Reading time – 127 seconds . . . Mohammed Mosaddegh was the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran. In 1953 he was deposed in a coup d’état orchestrated by British MI6 and the American CIA, along with foreign oil firms. They established Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi as the absolute ruler of Iran. That was a handy… [read more]
Commitment
Reading time – 19 seconds . . . We’re just past the 13th anniversary of 9/11 and, as in every year, there is much to remember. A part of that terrible day which you might not know about is recounted here in a Washington Post piece. Watch the video and read the post. You just… [read more]
Confession
Reading time – 111 seconds . . . I wasn’t a 60s radical. I wasn’t even politically conscious. In fact, I was essentially out to lunch regarding social and political issues. I missed the marches, the sit-ins, the banners, the demands for change, the chanting in front of the White House. Even Woodstock passed… [read more]
The Heavy Lifting
Reading time – 53 seconds . . . There are grayed-out Boomers working in organizations and sitting on committees focused on creating reform in America. Truly, some never lost their ’60s idealism. But what is happening now is nothing like what happened when we protested for an end to the war in Viet Nam, for… [read more]
The Playground
Reading time – 47 seconds . . . Boy, was I wrong. I grew up the same way everyone did. I was a kid. Adults were bigger. They were in charge. They knew stuff. They were really good at making a serious face. Parenthetically, as I write these words, I now wonder why I ever… [read more]
What We Need
Reading time – 126 seconds . . . Doris Haddock is not a well known name, but you might know her as Granny D. She saw clearly the corrupting influence of big money in our politics and on our country and determined to do something about it. To draw attention to this issue she set… [read more]
The Hopeful Beginning of the End
Reading time – 49 seconds . . . If you’re a regular reader, you know that my belief is that big money in our politics is the mother of all of our political dysfunction. It is what sustains the lunacy and blocks progress for our people and keeps us from solving our problems. Of all… [read more]
Wrong – Just Wrong
Reading time – 69 seconds . . . T.M. Luhrmann is a professor of anthropology at Stanford University and she wrote a most intersting opinion piece for the New York Times entitled Where Reason Ends and Faith Begins. In it she wrote, “Most people, whatever their religious persuasion, assume that there are decent human beings… [read more]
Ferguson, O’ Ferguson
Reading time – 87 seconds . . . “They’re just protesting and rioting so that they can loot the stores and vandalize other people’s property.” That’s what the woman said to the radio talk show host about the people in the streets of Ferguson, MO. My reply is a double, “Huh?” If I understand her… [read more]
Changes
Reading time – 46 seconds . . . I was sitting in a comfortable chair on my patio surrounded by garden flowers and trees on a quiet Saturday morning reading David McCullough’s Truman and sipping my thick, rich, dark roast coffee. Then neighbors diagonally across the back yard turned on their music and the quiet… [read more]
