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My Heroes

Wow! I was recently sent a couple articles about two doctors who are the representatives of a medical profession dedicated to caring for people. What I don't understand is why they have not been on the cover of every newspaper as giants in American medicine. I had to hear about the amazing Dr. Leila Denmark from the British medical journal Lancet and Dr. Dohner from People Magazine.

Berlin Stories

I just finished reading to Susan the newly released reprint of the short stories: Berlin Stories by Robert Walser. Previously I had read and loved his novel, Jacob von Gunten. They were written between 1907 and 1917 as non-fiction feuilleton, portraying aspects of Berlin life at the time. In 2 to 4 pages he tells you about an experience he has during the course of his day, making the seemingly commonplace into something very special. Most of the stories kicked off deep dinner discussions.

Our Planet's Fragility

“You don’t start a revolution by fighting the state but by presenting the solutions.” –Le Corbusier

Solutions?

I had so much fun reading the new book by Paolo Soleri, Lean Linear City. People ask me, "Is he's still alive?” Yes! In his nineties he's showing a directional solution for the whole picture of society in the future. It could return huge amounts of nature back to nature and provide some real possibilities for our huge populations. I love that modularity allows for the preservation of language and culture. Instead of cities we have the possibility of “continuous urban ribbons” across the nation. The huge question is how?

Bullying

I was bullied in primary school and junior high because I was a skinny nerd in schools on military bases. Then Dad died and I was moved to an all white school in Virginia in 1961. There I was bullied because I was a skinny nerd who could not be silent about the horror of racism I saw and heard in school. I was beaten.

Climate Change

Dear Friends & Readers,

Study helps me be clear. With the amount that I have read on the subject, I am clear on the fragility of our human future. We will be extinct soon if we don’t change. Most all of my library is in West Virginia in boxes, but I have kept a small portion (1,000 of 30-35,000 books) to bring here to Urbana. At the bottom of this post is a very short list of only some of the books I have on the subjects connected to global warming and/or extinction. Be safe, be studied. 

Your Inner Fish, by Neil Shubin

No wonder that the creation of all life is attributed to a God. The product… life… is so complicated that it's easier to think of a God doing it than 3 1/2 billion years of extensive, ongoing self-design. Each step of change in the course of evolution has required a mistake (mutation) to adapt organisms to their surroundings. Gene coding in living things today is similar to gene coding in the original single cell organisms. So we are really relatives of mammals, birds, lizards, frogs and fish, as well as insects and jellyfish.

Composing a Life; Composing a Culture

I decided to be happy all the time at the age of 18. I had three hospitalizations in one year, wanting to die because the adult world was so unhealthy. I did not yet know that another choice was Revolution. In the last hospitalization I discovered that choice. I could make me. This choice stood on the foundation of self-esteem that my mother gave me. The gift of, “I can do it” and “I will do it”, embracing freedom from doubt. I decide… I will do it.

The Art of Power

My brother, Wildman, loves Thich Nhat Hanh. He studies his books in order to help shape his life, and the results are impressive. My dear friend, Autumn, went to his commune, Plum Village, in the south of France to center herself after the tragic loss of her young partner to cancer. He is a holy man calling for many of the same things I feel I am calling for: peace, justice and care for all people and nature.

Frank Cheney has passed, Weep with Me

Frank, I love you. In 1980 you answered my call; “please drive me to West Virginia to look at this property, I think we will build our hospital there.”

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