John Edwards has decided to endorse Obama. Edwards collected a large percentage of votes in West Virginia in the Clinton-Obama race when he wasn’t even in the running. John Edwards has been the candidate Lita and I have supported in two attempts at the White house. A long time friend of ours, John also is an extraordinary competent and bright person. I can’t think of a better combination than Obama and Edwards for the White house this year.
I may not be able to maintain this blog for the next couple of weeks because my wife Lita and I are leaving for Europe. I don’t know whether I’ll find internet cafes or the time to report on our travel, so, be patient. We fly from Seattle to London/Heathrow where we connect by plane for Italy. This will be a test of Heathrow’s new terminal 5 where, after spending millions on a new terminal and baggage system, over 15,000…
Politics and religion. Those are the two subjects we were told we should avoid in talking with others if we want to be socially acceptable. Yet, politics has come to play such a significant part of our lives that it is hard not to talk about it, especially in a presidential election year. Much of the political disputes involves differing views as to the reason for and role of government. Take the conservatives and in particular Grover Norquist. Norquist, who…
The Huffington Blog has a posting about John McCain and his changed character since running for the presidency. I have complained about the change in John McCain myself. (See 2/6/07 "Senator John McCain and Lack of Character) I had regarded the Senator as a maverick straight shooter and admired his character until he began to lust over the white house. As Huffington points out: "The fact that this man was so angry at what George Bush had done to him,…
There is a connection between Daniel Ellsberg of Watergate fame and Dorothy Day founder of the Catholic Worker. Daniel Ellsberg was famous in 1971 for his role regarding "the Pentagon Papers." Ellsberg was a military analyst employed by the Rand Corporation as a Vietnam expert. During that year Defense Secretary McNamara commissioned the company to analyze information about the Vietnam war. When Ellsberg began reviewing the papers he discovered that, contrary to government statements, the war was not likely ever…
There is a connection between Daniel Ellsberg of Watergate fame and Dorothy Day founder of the Catholic Worker. Daniel Ellsberg was famous in 1971 for his role regarding "the Pentagon Papers." Ellsberg was a military analyst employed by the Rand Corporation as a Vietnam expert. During that year Defense Secretary McNamara commissioned the company to analyze information about the Vietnam war. When Ellsberg began reviewing the papers he discovered that, contrary to government statements, the war was not likely ever…
There is a connection between Daniel Ellsberg of Watergate fame and Dorothy Day founder of the Catholic Worker. Daniel Ellsberg was famous in 1971 for his role regarding "the Pentagon Papers." Ellsberg was a military analyst employed by the Rand Corporation as a Vietnam expert. During that year Defense Secretary McNamara commissioned the company to analyze information about the Vietnam war. When Ellsberg began reviewing the papers he discovered that, contrary to government statements, the war was not likely ever…
My sister, Anita Luvera Mayer, of Anacortes, Washington is a talented weaver and textile artist. She has been weaving and working with textiles for over a quarter of a century. She has traveled throughout the United States and Canada as well as around the world giving lectures and conducting workshops. She has published numerous books about her work as well as publishing numerous articles on her work.Two of the most recent books are Clothing From the Hands That Weave and…
If you watched, as I did, Ken Burn’s extraordinary documentary on public television The War you know that he used excerpts of writing from a small town newspaper in Minnesota. The columns that were quoted were narrated by the actor Tom Hanks. The newspaper was the Rock County Star-Herald and the writer was its editor Al McIntosh. The small town paper was published in Luverne, Minnesota. McIntosh was born in 1905 in North Dakota as the son of a pastor…
I've written about Al Mcintosh, owner and publisher of the Rock County Star Herald whose's writings were featured in Ken Burn's documentary The War. What follows is the editorial by Al McIntosh that made him famous when it was written in 1964 during the turbulent "60's." Newspapers all over the country re-printed it. While written almost a quarter of a century ago. How you react to it is determined by your view of American politics and American life. …
