Oftentimes one person has a lasting effect on our lives. A teacher who made a difference in us. As you entered your teens that person who treated you as an adult early on. Each of us has a story. Mine was not a teacher but a butcher in a small neighborhood grocery store with a … More Looking Back, Moving Forward
Government agents cannot shoot citizens dead on our streets for taking an IPhone video of their actions. Peaceful protests are allowed in our country in fact throughout our history such protests have been encouraged. Has government decided that the solution is in the use of physical force? Are these tactics acceptable? Have we changed as … More Wisdom Is Lacking
Every 100 years or so we reclaim our decency and our constitution. Abolishing Slavery, keeping people down was most inhumane, followed by the Know Nothings dislike of Irish Catholics in the 1800’s. The 1860’s and a civil war had our government announcing that Slavery was over, all are emancipated. Stating all people are free did … More No Time To Rest, Be Wide Awake
Wars often have an accidental beginning. History demonstrates this to us. Do our leaders acknowledge that? In my earlier days perhaps motivated by self interest I studied the US entry, as a nation, into the Vietnam conflict. Did our leaders actually visualize a monolithic communism, comprised of various countries, spreading their unified tentacles across the … More Containment Forgotten/Accidental Wars
America as a democracy struggles intensely. Elected members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives have created an allegiance to a extremist group still claiming the Republican label but essentially a political party divided within itself. The dominant remnant of this group proclaims an extreme right agenda and follows a leader with no … More Life isn’t what it used to be
Another DC-8 stretch jet accelerating along the runway, the pilot decides all OK to climb, the wheels lift off the runway at Cam Ranh Bay as the sounds from inside echo to those still behind or just arriving. Not a one of us thought this a country we liberated but our year was complete. Heading … More A King of Some Fools
This is a tale, a fiction, but one I could imagine happening. Ibrahim, who has lived in the United States for 6 years wrote a letter to his friend in Iraq. Ibrahim emigrated to the US with help from the US Army after working with US soldiers as an interpreter in southern Iraq for five … More So This Is Christmas?
Phil's Personal Perspectives 