301 results for author: Phil Anderson
“Supporting” the Troops Hypocrisy
“White House Takes Aim at Financial Protections For Military,”
“The Trump administration is taking aim at a law designed to protect military service members from getting cheated by shady lending practices.”
National Public Radio, August 13, 2018.
“Mulvaney Looks to Weaken Oversight of Military Lending,”
“The Trump administration is planning to suspend routine examinations of lenders for violations of the Military Lending Act, which was devised to protect military service members and their families from financial fraud, predatory loans and credit card gouging, according to internal agency documents.” New York Times, August ...
Why Care about the Environment?
“Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species -man- acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.” Rachel Carson author of Silent Spring
“These temple destroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism, seem to have a perfect contempt for Nature, and, instead of lifting their eyes to the God of the mountains, lift them to the Almighty Dollar.” John Muir
In 1969 the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire. There was so much oil and flammable chemicals floating on the river that it could burn. I saw this river when I worked on the US Steel ore boats in the early 1970s and went up the Cuyahoga ...
MOM AND APPLE PIE
“...remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could.” Abigail Adams
In 1776, Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, wrote a letter to her husband asking that the political and legal status of women be improved under the new government being formed. She was asking that the revolutionary rhetoric about being “created equal” and “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” include women. The founding fathers did not remember the ladies in 1776, nor in 1789 when writing the Constitution. Nor ...
IF A TREE DIES IN THE WOODS
If a tree dies in the woods does it make a sound? Does it tell us something? Should we be paying attention?
My wife and I live in the woods. We are fortunate to have some nice mature trees on our property. Walking through the woods recently, I noticed a nice white pine had inexplicably died. It was a beautiful, healthy, 26 inch diameter tree, maybe 70 feet high. But this summer it died suddenly. Why? Everything dies. Nature is always in flux. Is this normal life and death? Or is this a harbinger of things to come?
We don't know why this particular tree died. The most logical explanation is the wild swings in weather we have been having. This ...
Wisconsin’s Choices for Governor
According to recent newspaper stories, many Wisconsin voters don't know enough about the candidates for governor to form an opinion. A Marquette University poll says thirty eight percent are still undecided about the Democratic candidates for Governor. The August 14th primary election is one week away. If you are uninformed or undecided, this article is for you.
There are eight Democrats running for governor. There are 10 on the August 14th ballot but Dana Wachs and Andy Gronik have withdrawn. This may seem confusing because all the Democratic candidates have similar positions on issues. But there are differences in experience and the chances of ...
SILENCE IS CONSENT
”The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke, British member of parliament (1766-94) and critic of British treatment of the American colonies.
I have been reading a biography of President Harry Truman. This got me thinking about the other presidents we have had since that time. Like Truman, some were Democrats and some were Republicans. Some were liberals and some conservatives. All of them did some good and made some mistakes. All were ambitious politicians who were not as honest as they should have been. But the contrast between all of them and the current occupant of the presidency is ...
Freedom vs Conformity
“Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes, little boxes, little boxes all the same...”
Little Boxes song by Pete Seeger
Americans frequently pontificate about freedom. Individual liberty is supposedly the foundation of the nation and the highest of aspirations. Yet in practice freedom is often restricted and subordinated to commercial and other interests. Oddly many people blindly accept these contradictions and the restrictions on their freedom.
An example of this is the covenants imposed by Home Owner Associations or HOAs. We recently encountered these strange restrictions on property rights because ...
Stories We Tell Ourselves
“Who's dying for your freedom in this land,
Who pays for the cost for the liberties you demand
Is it for freedom, or our comfort and convenience,
Who pays the cost for the convenience we demand”
Excerpts from the song “Is it for Freedom?” by Sara Thomsen
On Memorial Day we eulogize the military service members who were sacrificed by our many wars. We tell ourselves these brave Americans died to “defend freedom” and protect our way of life. Implied in these stories is that our many wars were necessary and justified. But too often these stories glorify war and give legitimacy to violence and militarism. They make the next ...
WE ARE ONE RALLY
President Trump is coming to Duluth for a campaign rally on June 20th. The progressive community is organizing several alternative events. It is the Northland's turn to stand up for justice and show the world that we DO care about people everywhere. A HUGE TURNOUT will show the Northland rejects Trump' mean-spirited agenda!!
1) Soulstice: A Celebration of Peace, Love and Democracy
Date: Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Time: 5:00 to 8:00 PM
Place: Leif Erikson Park, Duluth (11th Ave E. & London Rd)
This is a free outdoor concert and a rallying call for democracy. This is not a political rally but an opportunity to raise our voices together ...
FIXING OUR BROKEN ELECTIONS
“In a democracy, someone who fails to get elected to office can always console himself with the thought that there was something not quite fair about it.” Thucydides, Greek politician and historian, 460-395 BCE.
“When one with honeyed words but evil mind persuades the mob, great woes befall the state.” Euripides, ancient Greek playwright.
When Donald Trump thought he was losing, he ranted about the election being “rigged.” After the archaic Electoral College gave him the presidency, he falsely claimed voter fraud had given Hillary Clinton the popular vote majority. Sour grapes over election outcomes is nothing new. But you don't have ...