Questions for an Independent Journalist
I prepared this list for Danielle Mackey’s Share the Wealth in November 2020. Where can a person go to get the news? What is an echo chamber and what, if any role, does it play…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
Cause and Effect 101
Andrew Wimmer shared the following headline and lede with me, and then his one word question. Really?
The Main Compass
First Thought: Conversations with Allen GinsbergEdited by Michael Schumacher When it comes to interviews with Ginsberg, I prefer the larger and deeper Spontaneous Mind, which warrants a complete rereading. But then I come across…
Share the Wealth with Danielle Mackey: Thinking Critically about Violence in Central America
I’d like to talk a bit about — and think aloud with the gathered friends — ways to see violence in Central America through a critical lens. Often, Central America is summed up as the…
Being Together
Sheri Hostetler’s ReflectionGraduate Theological Union Memorial Service, March 1996 Mark has asked me to speak on his behalf today since I am a close friend of his and since I was one of the few…
Dear Daisy Zamora
(After Reading Riverbed of Memory) I admit itI am filled with guiltWe didn’t do enough back in the 80sWhen the Reaganites were determinedTo crush the RevolutionTrue, you might say, the Sandinistas were far from perfectBut…
To the Reader of “Dear Love of Comrades”
I am happy to share this collaborative work about life over the last fifteen years or so. Having previously twice availed myself of self-publishing through XLibris (Mev, Layla), I decided this time to post the…
Beyond This Week’s News
My friend Andrew Wimmer shared the following provocative view from economist Michael Hudson… The current Democratic impasse shows that no progress can be made without changing the institutional structure of American politics. It seems that…
Power Versus Love
Robert Topmiller, The Lotus Unleashed: The Buddhist Peace Movement in South Vietnam, 1964-1966 We are not savages; we are people with an ancient culture, and we are sick in our bones of war. I do…
Share the Wealth with Mario Aleksic: Montenegro’s Culture
This Sunday’s Share the Wealth features my current student Mario who is excited to share about Montenegro, his homeland and his culture. Mario is an avid tennis player and in his first year at Maryville…