My daughter Abigail wrote this today. * * * * * I root myself to the ground. I will not give in to fear. Last night my thirteen-year-old attended his first confirmation class, during which they discussed the murders in Pittsburgh. “There are people who really, really hate Jews, Mom. It […]
Category Archives: Religion
HR 158: A Betrayal of Iranian Americans
January 9, 2016 – 3:26 pm
The following op ed, written by Kamran Azmoudeh, a local dentist, was printed in my daily paper, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, on January 8, 2016. It’s worth reading…and re-posting. * * * * * The war on terror and ISIS in particular has hit home in Santa Rosa. Its effects have […]
Mysteries
August 1, 2013 – 11:14 am
I very much admire and agree with the comment made by my daughter, Emily Cotler, about a photo taken by her friend, Lisa Boscia Bouillerce. Wow. I imagine myself in ancient Athens, or ancient Wales, or some other place thick with polytheistic mythology… Looking at this, of course that’s a Sun God, or some ominous […]
What Would MLK Do?
January 17, 2011 – 11:53 am
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s "I’ve been to the mountaintop" speech, Memphis, April 3, 1968 Just a few days ago, Jeh C. Johnson, general counsel for the Department of Defense, gave a speech at the Pentagon in recognition of Martin Luther King Day. Toward the end of his talk, Johnson mused about what the non-violent […]
Thinking About Artificial Intelligence
September 20, 2010 – 1:09 pm
What is life? Or consciousness? Or intelligence? Or self-awareness? Are we spiritual beings or meat machines? As a result of advances in computer technology, these eternal questions will soon (long before this century is over, IMO) be explored in ways that go further and deeper than religion, philosophy, and literature have done before. I am […]
Me and Miss Jones–Gee Whiz!
August 5, 2009 – 12:10 am
I am next to Miss Jones It was 1953. I was eight. I had known California for over five years and knew bits of New York and Pennsylvania through my parents’ stories. Miss Jones was from someplace between the coasts. I’ve forgotten her first name, and I’ve forgotten the state. Iowa, maybe Nebraska. She was […]
