The east is awash in Irene and earthquakes, and commentators everywhere are noticing how utterly shook up the world order also seems to be. Here’s Tom Friedman in the New York Times: [T]he European Union is cracking up. The Arab world is cracking up. China’s growth model is under pressure and America’s credit-driven capitalist model …
The last Harmony Project blog explored two of the many reasons for artists and activists to collaborate: to put a human face on issues, bringing them home much more powerfully; and to engage people in unearthing and exploring their own direct, personal relationships to issues. In this blog, two more ways that artist-activist collaborations multiply …
Like a drumbeat, the news these days delivers a repeated shock to the moral and ethical system of our body politic, calling out an answering question: do you believe this? How is it that the guardians of entrenched privilege, who have already seized so much of our commonwealth, are so shamelessly and persistently willing to …
The stories our leaders tell us matter, probably almost as much as the stories our parents tell us as children, because they orient us to what is, what could be, and what should be; to the worldviews they hold and to the values they hold sacred. Our brains evolved to “expect” stories with a particular …
I’ve been thinking about it steadily since a friend said it a week ago. “I know it sounds far-out, but I think they’re blackmailing Obama. I think they took him aside right after the election and said that if he wanted his family to live out his term, he’d better toe the line.” My friend …
Note to readers: This is the first in a series of blogs I am delighted to be writing for Harmony: The WomenArts Partnership Project. They will appear biweekly on the WomenArts site, and I will also reproduce each one here. Welcome to the first installment of The Harmony Project blog! Harmony: The WomenArts Partnership Project …
Here in Richmond, California, we have our official Independence Day fireworks on the 3rd of July, which I like. Not too many people, not as many drunks on the road as on the 4th. As it happens, I live on the harbor where the fireworks barge is anchored, so it as easy thing to stroll …
Last Sunday I read a piece on executive pay in the business section of the New York Times. Ever since, I have been wondering how to write about it. Here are some of the images I did not want to include: bad apples spoiling a whole barrel; pirates (and other types of marauding bandits); weeds …
The world didn’t end yesterday (unless the next world includes a bus from New York to Philadelphia equipped with the electrical outlets and wifi that enabled me to write this essay). Yes, I’ve been on the road all spring, a condition that tends to impair my ability to focus on a single topic long enough …
Lately, whenever I speak, I’ve been handing out small cards bearing two optical illusions. Last night, I handed them out at dinner. My friends hosted a lovely evening of teachings devoted to Passover’s theme of liberation. When I thought about what I wanted to share, these images came immediately to mind. Gaze at the image …