A car parked in the garage near mine has many admonishing decals displayed on the car trunk area. One reads: WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER! My thought: WHAT’S THE QUESTION?
Category Archives: Observations
TRAILING CLOUDS OF GLORY DO WE COME
September 8, 2011 A secluded and private space at Becketwood Cooperative is Fernwood Glen. Gigantic century old mature oaks shelter a sprawling wild-flower garden greet the eye. Bench provided offers a place for quiet contemplation. Often I visit here to enjoy the opportunity for private musing and thought. Immediately adjoining is the playground of Minnehaha Academy’s lower grade school. Recently atContinue reading “TRAILING CLOUDS OF GLORY DO WE COME”
PASSIONATE OPINION – LACK OF RATIONAL CONVICTION
July 22, 2011 The Opinion Page of the Startribune (7-18) printed a political commentary you don’t say by L k. Hanson. My attention riveted on his quoting Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) – British philosopher and mathematician. “The opinions that are held with passion are always those of which no good ground exists: indeed the passion isContinue reading “PASSIONATE OPINION – LACK OF RATIONAL CONVICTION”
CEREBRATING THE CONSTITUTION – JULY 4, 2011
The 1987 bicentennial year of the adoption of the Constitution my wife and I while on sabbatical at the University of Wisconsin attended a seminar titled: Cerebrating the Constitution. Each week a nationally renowned scholar addressed a topic regarding the history of or important questions regarding the Constitution. This past week the news media have involved significantly in CerebratingContinue reading “CEREBRATING THE CONSTITUTION – JULY 4, 2011”
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS AND LAKE CALHOUN
Recently it was suggested in the Minneapolis Startribune to change the name of Minneapolis’ Lake Calhoun. The lake’s namesake, it is argued, makes the name inappropriate. Why? John C. Calhoun, it is stated, was a Southern racist politician who championed slavery. A letter to the editor (6/19) put it succinctly that
HUBERT H. HUMPHREY’S 100TH BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY
On Humphrey’s 100th birthday anniversary last Friday (5-27) our cooperative showed a new documentary, “The Art of the Possible” dealing with his political career. Bill Moyers remarked in the documentary: “while we may not remember Hubert Humphrey’s name his fingerprints are all over the America of today”. Humphrey shepherded New Deal, Fair Deal, and Great Society programsContinue reading “HUBERT H. HUMPHREY’S 100TH BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY”
RATKO MLADIC — GENOCIDE– SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT
Thursday (May 26) Serbian security forces apprehended Ratko Mladic accused of war crimes and genocide. Trial at a war crimes tribunal in the Hague likely to follow. Mladic was a general in the Bosnia Serb army during the Bosnian War (1992-1995) and led the siege of Serajevo and the genocidal execution of 8000 men and boys (1995) in Srebrenica. BringingContinue reading “RATKO MLADIC — GENOCIDE– SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT”
GENERATION Y – BIN LADEN – SEPT 11, 2001
An insightful addendum to my recent blog: A FITTING CODA TO SEPT 11, 2001. Yesterday’s evening news had an interview with one of the college youth present at Ground Zero and shouting ” USA – USA” after hearing of the assassination of Bin Laden. The student was asked why the chant. The reply stated
Can’t Let Violence Overcome Non-Violence
May 18, 2011 Last evening my wife and I watched the American Experience TV production of the Freedom Riders. Living in Auburn, Alabama at the time and reviewing the violent events at nearby Anniston, Birmingham, and Montgomery fifty years later is very evocative for me. My retrospective Shaped By History p. 4-5 included in this website describes theContinue reading “Can’t Let Violence Overcome Non-Violence”
FREEDOM HAS TO BE WON OVER AND OVER
This week Wednesday, May 4th, was the fiftieth anniversary of The Freedom Riders. Four hundred black and white youth traveled together in defiance of the Southern segregated travel system.
The Bartling Scholarship 