I have been a Quaker for 22 years. ‘Unprogrammed’ or liberal Quakers, as you may know, don’t have pastors or other leaders. Community leadership role are usually rotated after a few years, and it is the community which makes decisions together to act in the world. A few years ago, …
This is a blog post inspired by the civil conflict in Ukraine. However, it does not examine the causes of the unrest or attempt to lay blame with one side or the other. As people living outside of Ukraine, we may feel powerless as we follow the news trickling out …
I have been traveling again, and noticing the individualism inherent in the US. It hits very hard after reading The Spirit Level by Wilkinson and Pickett, which shows over and over how societies (in different parts of the world) with greater inequality have greater public problems: from crime to obesity, poorer …
I haven’t posted in some time, even though my travels have continued (through northern Europe now). I haven’t really stopped, although I do know I will be settling in a new city, in a few months’ time. so, I am still traveling, but with a different feeling as I am …
I have now been four weeks in Nicaragua, and the street scenes have become normal. I am accustomed to habits such as scanning for deep holes in the sidewalk, walking on the shady side of the street, and catching glimpses into houses with front rooms full of gorgeous wooden rockers …
I am on the road again, travelling to take photos in the eastern part of Oregon state. It’s hard to be moving on every night. I am rounding off a few tasks before departing for Nicaragua in a week’s time, and carting boxes of things from a car to a …
Being able to voice one’s opinion – especially if one is able to analyse information and to frame one’s opinion in logic – is an essential contribution to social movements of all sizes. We hear about lack of freedom of speech and think we know what it looks like; Amnesty …