Spending so much time on screens, are we suffering from the Lost Words so exquisitely rhymed and put to music here? Probably more to the point, are our children not entering “the wild with care” and learning the words that matter most? Robert Macfarlane and the 8 poets and songwriters behind this stunning piece think […]

  I’m going to ask you to suspend your natural reaction to this statement: “The Cure Is Worse Than The Disease”   OK, I get it. That’s way too much to ask.  How about this then: “Kids Are Better Off In School”   What are we saying about ourselves when every important issue of the […]

Last night I was needing and searching for a way to get back to “a better place.” Not that there was ever a time that didn’t present its own challenges but I think you’d agree there have been times in the past that seemed sublimely free of the challenges we face today.    This morning […]

I don’t know where I’d be these days without music and my memories of music. For example I’m thinking about one piece right now. 40 years ago when I was with the Oregon Repertory Singers we sang Rachmaninoff’s “Bogoroditse Dyevo”. Back then the Rep Singers had 2 guys that could go down to a low […]

This blog is mostly about human rights and justice. But like most of what goes on today … e.g. business, religion, along with human rights and justice … it usually comes down to politics. I’ve not been writing on this blog for a couple of months mostly because I needed a break. But you don’t […]

What happens inside of you when you say “President Trump” Me? I have to suppress a gag reflex. President Trump.  President Trump.  President Trump. Nope. Sorry. Can’t do it. 

 If you miss Bob Marley you’ll be happy to hear he was alive and well in Pasadena, CA yesterday. I wish you had been there. But you know what? This video will bring you close. OK. You’re right, Andre Henry isn’t Bob Marley. But still … you tell me if this beautiful man doesn’t bring […]

“Stop saying he’s crazy. He’s crazy like a fox.”   Michael Moore           So you think there’s no way Trump can be re-elected in 2020. That’s not thinking. That’s hoping.   Here’s what we need to wake up to. He can and will be elected to a second term if things don’t […]

“Cowardice asks the question – is it safe? Expediency asks the question – is it politic? Vanity asks the question – is it popular? Conscience asks the question – is it right?” Mazin Qumsiyeh, my human rights mentor said this in 2008. I have never forgotten it.   Hello? Are you there? Good. Because you […]