Category: Seeking Common Ground

I was laying in bed this morning listening to the pitter patter of rain on the roof and down the rain gutter, my hand on my wife’s back and cat nestled between my legs thinking about how my Dad would have been 100 years old this week.

Wait a minute. What’s this “would have” stuff. He is 100 years old this week. October 20 to be more precise. When he passed away, died, moved on, transitioned, took his last breath on March 17, 2017 he did not become a “was.” His body, the one that helped bring me into the world, had reached the end of it’s functionality.

But, in my belief system at least, life doesn’t end when the body dies. My Dad, Walter Eugene Halen, is as alive today as he was on the day he was born, when his small town doctor took him to his house and nursed him back to health from a bout with double pneumonia, when he walked across the newly completed Golden Gate Bridge with cousin Ted, when he was an 18 year old recruit to the Citizens Military Training Corps stationed at Camp Roberts on California’s Central Coast, when he walked the streets of Calcutta, India assimilating experiences that would lead him to study Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley in the late 1940’s, when he survived a serious car crash before I was born, when he took us camping every Summer at Morro Bay State Park, when he taught me to backpack and love the outdoor natural world, when we kicked the table out from under the dinner table horsing around at dinner, when he taught Sunday School at the First Methodist Church of Visalia.

When he practiced tough love on me to get me back into life after I moved back home in my mid 20’s, when he worked 34 years for the Tulare County Health Department, when he continued working in public health at the Tule River Indian Reservation until his mid 80’s when it became too difficult to drive up to Springville.

When he finally agreed (with my Mom) that it was time to move into a place where they could be properly taken care of and moved down to Camarillo into Alma Via to be close to my sister and her family, when he (with the help of Grandson Brandon), planted a small garden in the courtyard at Alma Villa, up to the very moment that he took his last breath.

And still today. Dad is still around. Physically only in photographs, but his spirit lives on. For me, I know he is here because of my ferocious defense of liberalism and the fairness, justice and equity that he spent his life sharing and teaching. If my words in this Blog sometimes seem extreme, partisan and maybe even a little over the top, it’s because of what he taught me and continues to teach me. He was not the fiery type. That’s me. He is the steady, committed, faith driven man that believes in the sanctity of life and the practice of the teachings derived from his deep belief in God.

Happy 100th Birthday, Dad. Here’s to 101!

A friend, teaching colleague and avid backpacker asked me if I wanted to backpack with him earlier this Summer to California’s Emigrant Wilderness near Yosemite NP. At first, I was reluctant because it had been nearly eight years since my last trip and my equipment was old and untested.

That problem was solved when he loaned me a backpack, tent and sleeping bag. I didn’t have to worry about a stove because he already had one that would serve both of us. It was up to me to shop at my local REI and Sports Basement stores for freeze dried meals, hand washing products, new under socks and a few other useful items for the trip. Ok, I had the stuff that I needed. Let’s go!

The first day was no fun. Getting used to the altitude, the heat, the weight on my back made the first day a drudge. By the time we completed a challenging climb first thing the next morning, I was getting acclimatized and my conditioning was starting to kick in. We covered a lot of ground over the next three days and a good deal of the food weight was gone by then. I could do this! My boots and socks kept my feet healthy and happy and I was a happy camper!

Fire became a small factor in our trip, but it was a much bigger factor statewide. We were seeing smoke from the Fire.

My friend invited me along on another trip that he and another friend and backpacking buddy had already planned. That September hike was called off because of fires in and around Yosemite.

But, we weren’t done trying to squeeze in one last Summer 2021 Sierra backpack trip. So, we put a trip together to the Hoover Wilderness and eastern Yosemite out of the Twin Lakes area near Bridgeport, CA. during the first week of October. I had learned from my first trip of the Summer and had trimmed a few pounds from my pack. This time we had to carry our food in Yosemite approved bear canisters. The first day was smokey, but over the next two days, the winds picked up and the temperatures started dropping.

Thanks to modern technology, we received updated weather forecasts that showed us that a storm was approaching with snow as part of the package. We made our decision between our first and second pass crossing and the decision was to head back the way we came back to Twin Lakes. That decision shortened our trip by two days and about 25 miles.

After dinner on our last night out, we huddled arounds Kelvin’s small transistor radio and listened to the last four innings of a Wild Card baseball game between the Cardinals and Dodgers. What a sight, two Giant fans and a Dodger fan staring down towards the dark ground straining to make out the words from the garbled, sometimes barely audible signal.

Shortly after settling into our tents for the night, the wind picked up and the pitter patter of little rain drops began whacking our rainflys. It’s a good thing they were up. It would have made the night much more unpleasant.

The next morning was a short hike out to Twin Lakes. After a little cleaning up, we hopped in Kelvin’s Subaru and started the four plus hour drive home. it turned out to be a six plus hour drive home when we got to the foot of Sonora Pass only to find that it had been closed an hour and a half earlier due to the forecast of snow that we had learned about up the trail a couple days before.

So, we proceeded north on Highway 395 to Carson City where we got on Highway 50 and made our way home via South Lake Tahoe. This route took us through some of the devastation caused by the Caldor Fire. At one point, I counted five chimneys that had once helped keep the houses they were a part of warm.

Kelvin drove the entire way as we bantered a bit between CD’s of Tom Waits and Roy Zimmerman. He dropped me off at home around 8:30 amidst a little additional car drama.

Thanks to Kelvin, my love of the wild places was renewed and my commitment to restoring the planet were refreshed and strengthened. And, the realization that the wild places off the road were still accessible to me were the highlight of the past year and a half.

The pictures that I took in the Gaia app have proven to be hard to transfer from the app to my computer, so it may be only words for now. I’ll add photos later if I figure out how to do it!

https://newslit.org/

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception:  How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation."  In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information.  They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1.  Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2.  Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs.  Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3.  Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp.  Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4.  When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5.  Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.  

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source:  Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

The wealthy white right continues its all out frontal assault on Democracy. The 1st District Court of Appeal overturned a temporary stay on Governor Ron DeSantis’ effort to impose financial sanctions on 13 Florida school boards defying his mandate that districts cannot impose mask mandates.

Wait a second. Local school district officials are taking local actions to help save children from the COVID virus as they see fit and they are being told “No,” you can’t take action to save the lives of your kids because a Republican governor, for reasons still unbeknown to me, says that he “will continue to fight for parents rights.” DeSantis argues that the new Florida Parents Bill of Rights law “reserves solely for parents the authority to determine whether their children should wear a mask to school.”

I don’t think that this mask mandate decree from the governor has anything to do with parents rights at all. It is yet another effort by his Republican party to chip away at the rule of law. They are hell bent to to reinterpret the Constitution to suit the desires of an existing power structure in the United States that could not and would not survive in the world of a diverse, multi-ethnic , pluralistic democracy. The Supreme Court that Sen. Mitch McConnell has assembled appears positioned to restructure the law of the land to suit its partisan political views. Moreover, to effectively end democracy.

Consider this action by the Florida governor in context. Red state legislative attacks on voting rights law and the blocking of federal voting rights legislation by right leaning members of Congress point towards a fundamental effort for the dissolution of democratic processes in our great country.

On its face, you might say that a Republican governor taking away the local rights of neighborhood school boards runs directly opposite of Republican orthodoxy that favors local control over “big government.” Why would a Republican governor act in this manner?

That is the question that needs answering before we allow our Democracy to be dismantled and destroyed before our very eyes. I cannot stand still without at least saying something about it in this small forum of mine.

That is how I am making sense out of this continuing stream of illogical, immoral and inhumane actions coming from the political right. If you have a better explanation for our current divisive situation, I’m all ears.

One final though here. On the 20th Anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, how dare these anti-democratic forces be allowed to function in broad daylight without more outrage from good people like you.

https://newslit.org/

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception:  How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation."  In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information.  They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1.  Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2.  Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs.  Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3.  Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp.  Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4.  When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5.  Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.  

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source:  Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

California: Hell No

Texas : Hell Yes

Florida : Hell Yes

https://newslit.org/

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception:  How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation."  In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information.  They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1.  Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2.  Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs.  Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3.  Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp.  Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4.  When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5.  Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.  

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source:  Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

Whiteness has its privileges. My whiteness has its privileges. One of those privileges is that I have remained relatively safe and sheltered from the three headed tyrannical Medusa-like monster of Covid, (Skin) Color and Climate Change over the past two years. A three headed monster fed by the wealthy, white elites to try and bring our country to its knees and open it up to the dark forces of tyranny.

While over 637,000 Americans have died from Covid, our family has experienced two cases of Covid in our extended family and both of those resulted in minor illness. My wife and I have each had a negative Covid test and that’s about it.

Many, many, many families have not been as fortunate as ours. So please explain to me, someone, why are the states of Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Arkansas and Mississippi all nearly out of Intensive Care Unit beds statewide? Why is this happening when it has been clearly established that the COVID vaccine reduces the impact of Covid infections? Is it that the Republican governors of these states are actively discouraging vaccination? According to the Center for Disease Control, African Americans are twice as likely to die from a Covid infection and Hispanics are 2.3 times as likely to die from a Covid infection.

Add in the state of Florida whose governor, Ron DeSantis, refuses to allow local school districts in his state to mandate the wearing of masks to provide a safe environment for the students enrolled in Florida public schools. Again I ask you why on Earth would the governor of a state, any state, prohibit locally controlled school districts from making their own decisions on protecting children?

Does race or immigration policy play a role in these illogical, immoral, inhumane and otherwise unexplainable efforts by red state legislators to allow the Coronavirus to spread and cause unnecessary suffering on minority groups and on the health care workers affected by these policies? There is one thing that causes me to question my thesis statement. Why would red state governors be a part of killing their own Republican voters. That one is a head scratcher.

Allow me to digress a bit into the world of disinformation about the Covid vaccine and the promotion of alternate “treatments” like drinking bleach, taking anti-Malarial drugs (Hydroxychloroquin) or anti tick medications for animals (Ivermectin). What snake oil distraction will the tyrants unveil next? You won’t have to wait long. Fox, Facebook, Newsmax and OAN are ready to cause further Covid illness and suffering to keep the virus alive and well in the American public. To what end will the tyrant makers go to maintain white power in this country? Are the white folks that die nothing more than collateral damage in a Nazi-style attempt at racial cleansing?

Then there’s the second “C,” color. By virtue of my skin color, I am instantly spared the indignities, threats and dangers associated with not having white skin in the U.S.A. These racially motivated atrocities are a disgrace to the United States of America. The United States of America that I have longed for my entire adult life. The United States of America that I was taught to expect.

These atrocities are too numerous to name. Suffice it to say that wealthy, white elites are attempting to drive a wedge between us on the grounds of race. Why? It’s yet another way to disrupt progress towards a just, anti-Racist, economically stable America. They are trying to do this through a shameful disinformation campaign to stoke white fear and undermine improvements in how white people address the topic of racial inequality. Evidence for this claim is the way the the words “critical race theory” have been used by the white right. Those three words are a threat to the right’s attempts to hide America’s dark racial history. The right’s use of the words critical race theory are a not so thinly veiled effort to destabilize the United States and it’s institutions.

The third (and fourth) C’s are Climate Change. When then President Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords, the goals of the wealthy, white, right elites was far more then a short term move to allow the fossil fuel industry a final chance to squeeze out it’s last profits before the rug gets pulled out from under them. It has been intended to join forces with COVID and Color as the third diabolical head to the right’s three headed monster to subvert American Democracy.

The effects of this campaign to mislead and disinform millions of Americans are now in plain sight. There is no hiding from the impact of climate change now. Another massive hurricane, this one called Ida, has devastated Louisiana and numerous states in the South and Northeastern U.S with wind and flooding.

Wildfires run wild through the western states. Two of them burning in California, Dixie and Caldor are number two and fifteen on the the list of the states largest wildfires in terms of acreage burned.

Is it a stretch to make the claim that these three things are linked in a diabolical super plot to destroy America? Sure it is.

But, that’s the way I see it and I’m paying for the Blog host. Take care, be well and stay informed.

https://newslit.org/

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception:  How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation."  In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information.  They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1.  Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2.  Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs.  Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3.  Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp.  Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4.  When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5.  Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.  

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source:  Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

This writing is from a study of how my religious denomination is responding to the need for racial equity.  The effort of Unitarian Universalism to address bias in their own hiring practices has exposed a systemic problem within our faith tradition on how we look at race and what we can do to try and fix it. What we are facing within our religious community is the same as the we are facing as a country.

I am republishing this piece because I shared it this past Sunday at a Worship service designed to inform our congregation on what our denomination is doing to right it's wrongs. 

Thanksgiving is still three months away, but I can’t wait to say thanks to all of you that are caregivers.

Thank you…

…if you drive for five hours to care for your cantankerous aunt that you don’t really like.

…if you take care of an elderly person in their home allowing them to be in their comfortable place and doing things for them that they can no longer do.

…if are caring for a spouse

…if you are a firefighter comforting a family that has just lost a home to a wildfire.

…for thanking that firefighter who has been away from their family for weeks and probably many more.

…convalescent home workers who have gotten vaccinated for COVID 19 so they can safely care for people recovering from surgery.

…to all law enforcement officials who risk personal safety so that democracy can work in a safe and secure manner.

…to all member of the military for their unending and under-appreciated contributions to maintaining democracy.

…doctors, nurses, lab technicians and all of the people that work to deliver the highest and best possible health care.

…journalists for helping us cut through the disinformation to form opinions based on facts.

…service workers for cooking and serving us food in restaurants as we slowly begin to get out and around again.

…grocery store employees who put themselves out there to provide us with the food and supplies that we need to keep us safe and healthy

…for emailing things that make us laugh

…to the kids who take care of their parents

…for making music from your individual homes and sharing the songs with us.

…for taking the time to write down your thoughts and share them. It helps.

…for adding to this list of caregivers and what they do.

https://newslit.org/

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception:  How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation."  In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information.  They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1.  Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2.  Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs.  Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3.  Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp.  Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4.  When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5.  Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.  

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source:  Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

This writing is from a study of how my religious denomination is responding to the need for racial equity.  The effort of Unitarian Universalism to address bias in their own hiring practices has exposed a systemic problem within our faith tradition on how we look at race and what we can do to try and fix it. What we are facing within our religious community is the same as the we are facing as a country.

I am republishing this piece because I shared it this past Sunday at a Worship service designed to inform our congregation on what our denomination is doing to right it's wrongs. 

Widening the Circle Reflection

It was the last day of the COVID-shortened 2019-20 School year.  I was seeing my Sixth Grade students for the last time that year.  We had been conducting classes remotely since late March 2020 and we were ready to put the past 2 ½ months behind us and get on with the Summer

I was learning how to teach using digital tools and was beginning to feel comfortable with distance teaching.  I was meeting with three of my classes on this particular day and I had prepared a fun quiz game for the last day of school.

During the last class of the day, a parent came onto the screen and shared with me and the class that her daughter, one of my students, a wonderful 11 year-old was offended by a cartoon that I had opened the quiz with.  I know now that I had committed what is known as a micro-aggression.  I felt embarrassed and a little hurt.  The student was African American.

The impact of that moment on me has driven me to get educated about race in America and more importantly about race in Bruce Halen.  What did I know, what did I not know?  How could I have hurt one of my students and not fully understood why they were hurt?

That event has motivated me to learn more about racial differences in this country.  I have read and listened to several books on the topic of race in America.  More specifically race as it relates to being African American in America.

I knew about slavery.  I was raised to believe that skin color really didn’t matter.  I had learned from observing and interacting with middle schoolers over a long teaching career that skin color didn’t matter.  I was taught that racism was bad.

What I had not been taught, or perhaps just hadn’t learned was the depth to which people of color were systematically being treated as second class citizens or far worse by the people who have made the laws, set the policies and enforced those laws and policies.  I started paying attention to issues affecting people of color in disproportionate ways.  Things like incarceration, arrest rates, racial profiling and violence targeting people of color simply because their skin was a different tone.  I have taken a deeper dive into slavery and how it affects race relations to this present day.

What I have learned has changed me profoundly.  How do I say this gently yet powerfully. The culture, the society, the country that I have learned about since my childhood, does not really exist…Yet.

The lesson that I learned from the mother of my precious Sixth Grade student was that I would, from then on, become an anti-racist person. 

My participation in the Widening the Circle Study/Action group is my latest effort to learn how to be an anti-racist.  Never stop learning, never stop growing.  I am a 65 year old student yearning for learning on how to be part of the solution to bringing our American ideals to life.

What can you do?

*Widening the Circle is a movement within Unitarian Universalism to welcome a broader range of groups into the denomination.

The link below is a collaboration between the American Reparatory Theater at Harvard University and the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. It offers a way forward as we transition from Pandemic full shutdown to re-opening of public places.

https://americanrepertorytheater.org/roadmap-for-recovery-and-resilience-for-theater