politics
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Canada, an Off-Islander’s Perspective
“Home,” as the saying goes, “is where the heart is.” Tony Bennet may have left his heart in San Francisco, but pieces of my heart have been left in various places. I have lived in eight states, meeting a wide… Continue reading
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Flying a Plane Without a Parachute
There is a story told about Lyndon Johnson. In the telling, the President was playing poker in the White House family quarters with a few of the congressional leaders. During the game, he became melancholic, brooding. The assumption was that… Continue reading
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The Darkness We Ignore: Confessions of a Guilty Bystander
There are ghosts that haunt me. On a warm spring afternoon, I was in New York City’s Washington Square Park listening to Country Joe and the Fish. I was in the City, having spent the morning on Wall Street with… Continue reading
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RUPTURED
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is right. The prime minister is correct when he says there is “a rupture in the world order, the end of a pleasant fiction and the beginning of a harsh reality.” He is accurate when… Continue reading
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A World Without Rules
A friend commented the other day that he noticed I was shifting my attention. “You’re posting poetry. Are you writing more poems?” Actually, yes. I took a hiatus from poetry to write two novels, travel, paint, garden, and begin the… Continue reading
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When Reason Sleeps, the Monsters Emerge
The Times published a poem by Robert Palmer in 1916 that reads in part: From sodden plains in West and East the bloodOf kindly men streams up in mists of hate,Polluting Thy clean air: and nations greatIn reputation of the… Continue reading
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Chanukkah and Advent: Dialogue and Hate in the Trumpian Age
Mixing Apples and oranges (or pomegranates). Readers may think I have been doing just that in these reflections on Advent and Chanukkah. Jews and Christians have distinct faiths and teachings. I firmly believe in ecumenical dialogue. Dialogue, to reach an… Continue reading
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Veterans Have a Word to Say About the Constitution, Duty, and Who They Serve
The Military News this morning contained an article titled “Military Veterans Call Out Trump, Hegseth and Pentagon in New Video.” Rather than post the entire article written by Nick Mordowanec, I am providing a link to their short video. This… Continue reading
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Breaking Up Is Hard to Do?
By Carl A. Ten Hoopen Things happened quickly and quietly. Unexpectedly? The answer to that question depends on who you ask. Only their closest friends caught the star quarterback’s drifting attention. His head-cheerleader girlfriend seemed to be flirting with somebody… Continue reading
Charles van Heck's Woodhull Journal 