12/9/2020 Anyone who has ever lived with a young cat has had an experience something like this: you’re sitting on your couch, your home peaceful and quiet, when all of a sudden, with a sound like unzipping velcro, or tearing burlap, a furry demon ricochets through the space, bouncing off …
I was 13 years old when I watched video of Rodney King being beaten by officers of the LAPD. I am 43 years old now and I’m watching the same things happen, over and over and over again. I didn’t understand it then and I don’t understand it now. One …
Up until quite recently I thought and said things to decry the violence and looting that too often infiltrated peaceful protests. I empathized with the pain experienced by the protestors, but cautioned them against stepping beyond the line between respect and criminality. I was wrong to do so. By focusing …
It’s no secret that there’s a fair amount of tension in the Democratic Party right now— tension between the more centrist old guard, and the more liberal/progressive new guard. The old guard advocates incrementalism under the banner of pragmatism and hewing to a traditional, business-friendly stance. The new guard has …
In the absence of traditional TV access I’ve learned to get news and information from other sources. I listen to NPR every day, listen to a news podcast four or five days a week, read a variety of news sources via Apple News, and have a network of friends who …
This was written on the eve of the inauguration of Donald Trump as United States President. As I set down these thoughts many people I knew were preparing to protest this. Knowing this I felt … uneasy. Not filled with hope. I felt like I needed to say something about …
What do I say to you who are women, when I am a man? What do I say to you who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, when I am straight? What do I say to you who are Black, Latino, Asian, Indigenous, when I am White? What do I …
As many of you know I was raised Catholic. There’s a thing, therein, called original sin. If you’re not familiar with that concept it’s the idea that there is one, first bad act, that has tainted everything that came after it. Whether you believe in talking snakes and magic apples …
This past Saturday the Washington State Democratic Caucuses took place. It was the second time that I participated in a caucus, the first time being in 2008 (I wasn’t living here yet in 2004). If you’ve only lived in states that have primaries then nothing has ever really prepared you …
We begin with dreams. When we are looking into a hazy future and our minds plumb the depths of the “what ifs”, we dream. Dreams are not bound by the constraints of practicality. Dreams are not limited to the possible or permissible. Dreams are flights of fancy where anything can …
allegiance (noun) : (1a) the obligation of a feudal vassal to his liege lord, (1b) the fidelity owed by a subject or citizen to a sovereign or government, (2) devotion or loyalty to a person, group, or cause. Allegiances are tricky things. One way or another, and over and over …