Mixing journalism and religion
For the past two years I've been the clerk of our Quaker congregation or "meeting."For those unfamiliar with "Quakerish," our often quaint and mysterious Quaker language, you need to know that being...
View ArticleWould you volunteer to pay more — much more — for gas?
It’s pretty clear that our next president, whoever he might be, isn’t going to do squat about global warming. The oil pipers in Washington DC are going to continue to call their profit-driven,...
View ArticleMitt Romney's "born in Kenya" problem
Psssst! Pass the word: It is widely rumored that for eight years during the ‘80s and ‘90s, Mitt Romney paid no taxes. Not a dime.When he did pay, his tab was miniscule, thanks to accounts in the Cayman...
View ArticleThe New Law of Nature
The truth is palpable, overwhelming, scorching, toxic and virulent.In the 2006 documentary, Al Gore, in a calculated understatement, called it “inconvenient.”Today is it undeniable to the vast...
View ArticleSuspicious unsupported comments on liberal sites
I'm beginning to wonder whether the Republican presidential money machine is paying folks to post non-sense, ad hominem responses to articles on liberal web sites.Case in point are comments (replete...
View ArticleNathaniel's last lecture: The Dirt on our Deathbeds
As my old friend Nathaniel Blumberg, felled by a stroke, lay dying in a Kalispell, Montana, hospital last February, several friends came to his bedside. They represented just a few of myriad friends...
View ArticleFour more years....
I’m looking into the future, to August 2016 to be exact.It is not a pretty picture.Sure the unexpected can happen (and likely will) but assuming the “normal” course of events given what we know, the...
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Clara's world
The birth of our first grandchild, Clara, early Sunday morning here in Portland has left me elated and somber.The joy is pictured in the photo, taken when she was a mere 10 hours old.Clara arrives as I...
View ArticleCalling for help
Of all the trans-Gulf of Mexico ironies that link the Republican convention in Tampa and Isaac’s destruction in New Orleans, one stands out and illuminates conservative myth and the plight of this...
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Jesus bombs as political convention keynoter
Republican convention organizers set up a special prayer room for the delegates. Presumably they were praying for victory in November. Not to be found lacking spiritually, the Democrats set up their...
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Stilling Life
Some of my paintings are now on display at the Multnomah Friends Meetinghouse at 4312 SE Stark Street. (I’ve included images of three here.) Except for Sundays, the open hours at the building are...
View ArticleWho are those guys?
You could feel this one coming. The Romney bit about the 47 percent delivered to fellow multimillionaires.Here’s a man who:• admits he enjoys firing people.• mysteriously refuses to make public more...
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Recalculating
In traffic-crazy Orange County last weekend, my friend John missed a freeway exit in our rental car.He had been alerted by the robotic female voice on the GPS, but John had been engrossed in...
View ArticleDebate question: Who wants to be President?
Suppose Presidential debate moderator Jim Lehrer were in the front of a fifth grade classroom and had asked, “Okay, students, who wants to be President of the United States for the next four years?”The...
View ArticleWhy the Tea Party tolerates Etch-a-Sketch
Missing so far in October’s political commentary is an obvious question about Mitt Romney’s latest Etch-a-Sketch redrafting of his positions. (Just yesterday Romney “softened” his position on opposing...
View ArticleDebate a 'People's Choice' pledge
Here’s something that should be a topic during the final two presidential debates but won’t. Call it “The pledge to abide by the will of the people.”It doesn’t matter which candidate makes the...
View ArticleA Gift of Nature?
When I went out to my car recently I instantly saw something orange sitting on its roof.A large autumn leaf perhaps?Ah, nature’s gift!But as I got closer I could see that it was plastic bag. One of the...
View ArticleMother Nature casts her vote
It’s easy to find the cause of Hurricane Sandy.It’s two fold.The first is global warming. This massive storm is yet one more unprecedented catastrophic climate “event” linked to global warming.And the...
View ArticleWhat if today were election day?
What if this day, this Tuesday, were election day and not next Tuesday?Would voting be extended in the states affected by Sandy? In states where 7.5 million are without power.Or would the electoral...
View ArticleFinding Unity: Beyond Majority Rule
On this election day, I’m thinking about “Beyond Majority Rule,” Michael Sheeran's classic about the vote-less Quaker decision-making process.Today’s voting, if it is conclusive, presumably will assert...
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