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Ivan's Place |
Cool Quotes & Other Pith (in alphabetical order)
Ecology and Environment
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Critters Bats!! Birds Raccoons Fox Tarantula!! Energy/Conservation Solar cooking Making A Solar Oven |
Essays & other writings (In chronological order)
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Letter to a Caring Community (1975) The Handshake — A Pantomime (1977) Somozas, Sandinistas, Contras, and US (1990) Reflections on A Sunday Afternoon Bicycle Ride (1991) The Mystery of Moral Decision-Making (1991) Ivan's Take on NAFTA (1993) Intellectual Suicide at the New Republic Also on NAFTA (1994) Parody on capital punishment For Dennis Prager fans. (2001) Patriotism (2004) History Lesson (Progressive Writers Bloc, 2004) The Holy Land - Part I (Progressive Writers Bloc, 2004) The Holy Land - Part II (Progressive Writers Bloc, 2004) The Selfish, Greedy Rich A no-spin, fair and balanced discussion. (2004) The Non-Selfish, Non-Greedy Rich Another no-spin, fair and balanced discussion. (2004) Dumb or Dishonest? A fair and balanced discussion of certain defenders of corporate America and laissez-faire capitalism. (2005) Operation Healthy Reunions A plug for a National Mental Health Association program to help soldiers returning from battle—with a twist. (2005) The Real Adam Smith Read this and you will understand the father of capitalism better than most of the economists who quote him. (2006) Ralph Peters: Confused Patriot? A fair and balanced look at one of America's most muscular right-wingers. (2006) Too Late for One Marine (Progressive Writers Bloc, 2006) Blessed Are The Peacemakers (2006) Open Letter to Michael Reagan (2006) American Theocracy (Progressive Writers Bloc, 2006) A recommendation of Kevin Phillips's book of that title. The Other War (Progressive Writers Bloc, 2006) More commentary on, and recommendation of, Kevin Phillips's books. Phillips explains the current Republican coalition's role in enriching the top 1 percent of America's families at the expense of everyone else, and he warns of "plutocracy by some other name" if the current trajectory is not reversed. Regressive Taxation (Progressive Writers Bloc, 2006) On Measure R, a tax incentive for "major corporations" to locate in Tulare County, California. Written in anticipation of the 2006 mid-term election. Measure R was placed on the ballot by the directors of the Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG). Warriors Who Hate War (April 10, 2008) Is John McCain another Dwight D. Eisenhower? Let's hope not. Arundhati Roy, Meet General William C. Westmoreland (April 13, 2008) The Seeds of Our Own Destruction (June 7, 2008) Is it too late to save our republic? An Apology to Senator John McCain (March 1, 2009) Why I could not support Senator McCain's re-election effort. The John Templeton Foundation's "Big Question": Does the Free Market Corrode Moral Character? A Textual and Thematic Deconstruction of Responses by Sixteen Distinguished Scholars and Public Figures. (May 24, 2009) On the phony "House Bank Scandal" of 1992-93. My letter-to-the-editor of the Los Angeles Daily News criticizing the false image of corrupt lawmakers created by the mainstream press; my letters to Daily News editors themselves chastising them for unprofessional behavior and attitudes; and the response of a combative assistant managing editor defending the Daily News. (September 27, 2009) Where's Joe? Swipe at then (1997) Los Angeles Daily News conservative columnist Joe Gelman, on his nasty attitude on feminists. (October 13, 2009) Even Rocket Science Isn't Rocket Science A challenge to the arrogant and the smug. (June 4, 2010) |
Letters My letters to the editor, mostly during the Reagan years.
Music: A page of mostly opera arias I transferred to my computer from tape and record in late 2008.
Social Activism (The photos may take a while to load.)
Iraq War Memorials
PeacefireII April 29, 2006; Visalia, California. Meet some really great people who work for peace and justice in California's southern San Joaquin Valley. Tribute to Crizel My friend Lawrence "Butch" Turk pays a moving tribute to a brave little Filipino girl. Butch and I spent six weeks together on The International March for Peace in Central America from December 10, 1985 to January 24, 1986. (See link above.) Butch is one of those for whose being in the world I am deeply, profoundly, and inexpressibly grateful. Veterans Fast for Life for Peace in Central America: Fall, 1986. Four U.S. veterans fast on the Capitol steps to protest President Reagan's Central America policy. |
Recommended reading
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Chapter 10: Upsetting the Balance: Iran and Afghanistan.
From Endless Enemies: The Making Of An Unfriendly World, by Jonathan Kwitny.(1984) New York, Congdon & Weed, Inc. This is a very important book, and Chapter 10 is as relevant today as it was when it was written. The Passing of the Idle Rich, by Frederick Townsend Martin. (1911) Martin was a seriously rich member of Society, and wrote to warn his seriously rich compatriots of the danger to their class posed by the "idle rich," a new, upstart minority whose crass flaunting of their riches were giving all of the wealthy a bad name. Martin foresaw class war and revolution if this corrupting trend of ostentatious display of wealth was not brought under control. He was wrong, of course. The working class that supported the progressive reforms of the last century became docile, passive, and antipathetic to the liberal cause after they had attained to a reasonably comfortable lifestyle due to post-war prosperity and the beneifts of the GI Bill. Today the wealthy are more firmly in control than ever before. The book is available for on-line reading (the above link) or as a copyable text file. It is a product of the UCLA Southern Regional Library Facility, which scanned it an posted it to archive.org in 2007. Four important books explaining the whys and the wherefores of global anti-American sentiment, and where the Bush administration is leadng us. Not for the timid. Six books relevant to the "vast, right-wing conspiracy." Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith. Read these excerpts and you will understand Adam Smith better than Milton Friedman did. Chilling National Catholic Reporter article on fundamentalist Protestant Christianity. . Two chapters from The Brothers Karamazov: Rebellion, and The Grand Inquisitor. To my mind, the most powerful and profound prose ever written in any language. (This is a PDF file, which requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click here to download the reader.) |
Recommended sites Some of my favorite sites.
Research & Surveys Give us your opinions on issues not usually addressed by opinion polls.
Page updated October 23, 2009