On the eve of my brief return to England I took a break to watch Amazing Grace, a historical drama based on the life of William Wilberforce, a young British politician as he fought to end England’s slave trade. It was a great movie. Great for its portrayal of the zest and zeal of a young politician plagued with a conscience that overruled any question of political posturing. Driving himself to sickness, infamy, and away from those all too willing... Read more

From today’s Writer’s Almanac: It’s the birthday of Edmund Burke, (books by this author) born in Dublin (1729). His father was a Protestant lawyer and his mother was Catholic. Burke studied law at university, but when he gave it up to study literature, his father withdrew Edmund’s allowance… So Burke started writing in order to make some money. He became the assistant to the Secretary of Ireland, and then a Member of Parliament, representing the district of Bristol in the... Read more

No-tech Sunday: Last Sunday, Julie and I did a no-tech day: no computers, no cell phones, no TV, etc. We fudged a bit to use the coffee maker (an essential item!) and the stove to cook. It was a wonderful experience, simply being unplugged. Just being together in that way was quite an experience, finding her rhythm in the silence, finding our rhythm in the many subtle movements and expressions otherwise overlooked. We played cards, lounged in bed, read, talked,... Read more

“Brute force can turn self defense into state terrorism… by killing indiscriminately: the elderly, kids, entire families; by destroying schools and hospitals, Israel did exactly what terrorists do and exactly what Hamas wanted. It spilled the blood that turns the wheel of retribution.” – Bill Moyers He goes on to point out that although Democratic voters in America overwhelmingly oppose Israel’s bombing and invasion, party leaders walk lock-step with Israel. You can contact your congresspeople to try to change that... Read more

(written as a stream of thought to reassure myself that temporary insanity – in times of insanity – is perfectly sane… or an itinerary for busy times…) Tonight – cards and games at Jen’s, with Julie (and hopefully Patia too) and others. Last time we played I came away $25 richer. I’m hoping for a repeat. N.B. Kant apparently supplemented his meagre Privatdozent income with cards and billiards bets. If it’s good enough for Kant, it’s good enough for me.... Read more

There is an excellent article in the Huffington Post by Ed and Deb Shapiro today worth a read. While beginning with a fairly scathing review of Bush’s eight years in office, the article went on to say: There is, however, much to learn from the past eight years. For GWB is not entirely to blame. Indirectly we are all responsible for what has happened. Our apathy allowed the corrupt voting machines. We did not protest loud enough when power was... Read more

During discussion time at meditation last night, our hostess quoted Sister Helen Prijean from her “This I Believe” essay early last year: “I watch what I do to see what I really believe.” Wow. Meditate on that for a bit. As per the last post, we talked a bit about how we can sometimes think we hold high ideals of this or that sort, but then our actions are in discord with them. What might this last year or so... Read more

Last night at meditation we listened to a tape of Pema Chodron, reading a book by her teacher. She spoke of seeing ego as we would a clown, an actor that amuses us but can also turn on us, poke us unwantingly and cause us pain. I’m not sure I like the metaphor, but I do like the teaching – to not take our ego, our selves, so seriously – even when it is a source of pleasure for us.... Read more

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Happy New Year world! Today and this year started as every day should: with a kiss at midnight. And I’m happy to say it hasn’t been downhill at all from there. After a wonderful brunch of homemade soup and bread I was off to my place to work. And work I have, for about 10 straight hours, on my thesis. One can almost taste Buddhist Ethics after 10 hours of reading, writing, searching, and analyzing it. It tastes a bit... Read more