First of all, do yourself a favor and watch this movie: http://www.philosopherkingsmovie.com/ The defining moment during this Republican presidential primary season came for me when Newt Gingrich suggested that school systems get rid of most of their janitors in order to hire students. It wasn’t just what he said, it was the subsequent response and lack [...]
Archive for the ‘On Society’ Category
Gingrich, janitors, the 1%, and you and me
Posted in Essays & Inspirations, On Society, Politics, Work, tagged class warfare, Democrats, janitors, Newt Gingrich, Politics, Republicans on January 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Where were you (when the world stopped turning)?
Posted in Essays & Inspirations, Faith, On Society, tagged 9/11 on September 6, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Where were you when the world stopped turning? Alan Jackson asked us almost ten years ago. Now I’m asking you. This week, for obvious reasons, is going to bring back a whole range of memories and emotions. 9/11 has been the seminal event of my lifetime. Close to 3000 people lost their live in one [...]
I have a problem with this
Posted in Essays & Inspirations, On Society, tagged media, murder, Washington Post on August 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Recently, here in Washington, DC a 92 year old socialite and “Georgetown Hostess” was apparently murdered. She was found dead in her home. Tragic. The lead suspect is her 47 year old husband. The story keeps on getting front page mention in the Washington Post. This will go on for weeks…any new news will be [...]
Where have all the flags gone?
Posted in Essays & Inspirations, On Society on November 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Image by jcolman via Flickr Last night I took a stroll throughout my neighborhood to walk off the huge amount of food I ate for the Thanksgiving feast. It was a quiet, peaceful night. As I made my way down the street I noticed something that I hadn’t seen in a while. There were two [...]
RIP Teddy Kennedy
Posted in Essays & Inspirations, On Society, Politics, tagged Bobby Kennedy, Irish Catholic, John F. Kennedy, John McCain, New England, Orrin Hatch, Ted Kennedy on August 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Image via Wikipedia When you’re an Irish Catholic growing up in New England in the 1960′s and 1970′s, you’re going to have a certain affinity with the huge Kennedy clan. And that’s true even if you don’t fully embrace the politics. While I was too young to remember the assassination of John F. Kennedy, I [...]
The Gates situation dialogue is failing
Posted in Essays & Inspirations, On Society, tagged African American, Black people, Colbert King, Henry Louis Gates, James Crowley, Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post on July 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Jonathan Capehart, an editorial writer for the Washington Post, had an article yesterday entitled “The Race Dialogue We Won’t Have”. A worthy read. Then today’s editorial page has longtime Post editor Colbert King’s great piece “The Black Man at the Door”. The title of the first article signifies the problem with thes entire situation. [...]
Henry Louis Gates Jr. and what’s really wrong with this picture
Posted in Essays & Inspirations, On Society, tagged Cambridge Massachusetts, Dee Brown, Harvard University, Henry Louis Gates, Racial profiling on July 22, 2009 | 5 Comments »
When I read about Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. getting arrested at his home in Cambridge, MA, I cringed. As the story unfolded, it became clear to me how easily this can happen. Simply misunderstandings, a cop doing his job, and racial profiling all worked together produced yet another incident that we all could, [...]
Hats off to Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins…
Posted in Essays & Inspirations, On Society, tagged Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, NASA, Neil Armstrong, Wright Brothers on July 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Image by Getty Images via Daylife …and to the many others who risked their lives to explore space and to make those three the first to reach and, in the case of Armstrong and Aldrin, step foot on the moon. It seems so detached from the happenings in our lives today. We haven’t had anyone [...]
