In 2004, my mom wrote about what war costs—not just for those who fight, but for those who wait, worry, and live with the aftermath. Twenty-one years later, I’m sharing her words again, along with my reflections as a veteran, son, and father.
The 2016 presidential campaign is ratcheting into gear, and already I’m questioning whether my stomach can handle the vitriol. Depending on who I’m talking to, I could be a baby-killing, communist feminazi, or a right-wing Neanderthal nut job; although, according to both of those viewpoints, I’m most likely a lazy, confused, non-voting slacker who, by…
“What antiwar movement?” – former Congressman Dennis Kucinich It was barely ninety minutes into the No War with Syria rally in Austin, and already the mercury was flirting with the century mark. The revolutionary socialist wiped her brow and raised a bullhorn. “It’s getting pretty hot out here. Why don’t we call it a day,…
The Austin morning promised an equally beautiful afternoon, with projected temps barely passing the 90 degree mark—fantabulous weather for a show of force on the Capitol steps. I thought we’d arrived much too late to make it inside the building and up three flights of stairs to the Senate gallery, but by some serendipitous warp…
Good luck trying to evade the heated arguments and hyperbole spewing from the current gun hysteria—and I’m talking about hysterical zealots from both sides of the gun control debate. While it can’t be argued that guns make more efficient assault weapons than do knives, baseball bats or sausages, the person who applies a Louisville Slugger…
In the cold and misty infancy of yet another new year, my thoughts drift easily, dreamily, seeping from one brain fold to another. It’s not a day for big-think or physical effort beyond that required to make a cup of tea. It’s a day, easing into evening, for self-indulgent woolgathering and listening to music like…
The opposite of love isn’t hate. The opposite of love is fear. Sages and enlightened men and women throughout the ages have encouraged us to embrace this axiom, again and again. Unfortunately, humanity’s usual method for accommodating mystics and messengers is to either disregard or kill them. Since our common era associates this time of…
by Teri Wills This was quite possibly the most ridiculous, most opprobrious meme of the 2012 election. As accomplished as my lady parts are, the last time I checked there weren’t any brain cells firing down there. So I voted with my head, thanks. And if I had been picturing vaginas while voting, they would…
the chaos section 