"Joe Hill's Last Will" Is A Play to Remember 

 

Worldwide it has been a banner year for centenary celebrations. 2015 is, for example, the two hundredth anniversary of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, and the eight hundredth anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta.

In America, one centenary which has received much attention at the grass roots level, but no attention at all from the mainstream media, is the hundredth anniversary of the execution of Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) organizer and songwriter Joe Hill. Hill is credited with…

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Reconsidering The Capitol Sing 

     I will probably be politically pilloried for what I am about to say, but it is something that needs to be said. We need to take a very long, very hard, and very different  look at what is happening each weekday at noon in Wisconsin’s Capitol. 

     First I should point out that I am not entirely objective about this. I have participated in the Sing. No. I have not been there every day as have some people. No. I have not even been there even as often as I, perhaps, could or should have. To be…

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Observations on Christmas and Christians 

As Christians celebrate, on this day, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I would like to remind the Fundamentalists why we are called Christians.

     It is not because of The Book of Genesis, although that book is certainly important. It is not because of the Book of Leviticus, although that book has much to tell us. It is not completely in the Book of Revelation, which seems to be the Fundamentalist’s sole concession to the New Testament.

    Christianity is in The Gospels. Those books…

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Gratitudes 

 

I am grateful that Ingrid Frances Stark is part of my life. She marks the second time in my life that I have found a soulmate. Many people never find one. I am truly blessed.

I am grateful that I am able to make a living in pursuit of my various passions.

I am grateful for friends, real and virtual. It is a miracle to be able to laugh, cry, joke, get crazy, and generally hang out with people close to you. I also, however, value my Facebook friends. The ongoing banter and debate always gives me dozens of…

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We Need To Start Using The "F" Word! 

     The word is “Fascism”! I am not using this word lightly. I am not using this word, in any manner, facetiously or as any form of epithet. I am using the word because it best describes our current political reality.

     “When corporate interests and government are working from the same agenda, you have fascism” – Benito Mussolini

      That’s just about the most succinct and authoritative definition of the word that one is likely to find.

      If we are to overcome this reality it is vital that we…

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Making Changes 

Reinvention Back at the end of the 1980’s and into the beginning of the 1990’s there was a fellow named Tom Peters who was making quite a splash in business news circles He was also catching on with much of the general public with a delightfully radical idea. He thought that, for any business to stay healthy and profitable on a long-term basis, it needed to reinvent itself every three years or so. For me it the idea came as vindication of a sort. I had, from a creative standpoint, been doing that…

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What Happened In Maine? 

Once again the Republican Party is actively proving something which I’ve been saying for years. You can’t have a circus without elephants. This is not about Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker’s union busting (and budget busting) agenda. This not about the twisted parade of spoiled rich kids, whacos, megalomaniacs, nitwits, and outright fascists that the GOP has trotted out to run for the Presidency. This isn’t about Corporate Personhood (although, I would like to see CitiCorp’s long form birth certificate)…

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Frog Fight 

Frog Fight No frogs were waiting on the front porch to greet Winthrop when he got home from school on Tuesday. The frogs had been there to greet him every day for as long as he could remember (given that he was only seven years old, however, that wasn’t a heck of a long time). Though he called and croaked for hours, no frogs came . Winthrop was very disappointed. Where were they? Why had they stayed away? Had he offended them? If so, how? He hadn’t called them any unpleasant names. He…

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Random Thoughts 

You can always tell when a trend has run its course. Justin Bieber Singing Toothbrushes (yes, there really is such a thing) were selling for $29.90 each. Now you can get two for $14.00 from Groupon.com What is frightening isn’t the selling price or even the fact that someone would shell out good money for such a product. What is frightening is that a grown person actually got paid to think of it in the first place =========================== Thoughts on Theodore Roosevelt In school we were taught…

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Security? 

Recently singer/songwriter, Randall Williams posed an interesting question on Facebook. He asked his friends to define the word “securityâ€. One suspects that for every five people one asks one is likely to get seven or eight answers. There will always be folks with more than one definition My immediate answer was to tell Randall that, while many people may define security in financial terms, I took security from the knowledge that I was able to make music and would probably be able to do so…

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