1. Campaign finance reform. Without it, nothing else will get done.

2. Healthcare reform, for our health and the health of our economy.

3. Restructuring the Federal Reserve, to protect the economy, not Wall Street.

4. Education reform. An educated population is less likely to be duped.

5. Revive the Fair… Read full post »

During the August Congressional recess the Republican National Committee will spend one million dollars to defeat healthcare reform. A recent internal RNC poll showed that 60% of the American public support a public option for health insurance. Why would the RNC choose to go against the will of the A… Read full post »

In the 2008 presidential election, progressives won the White House and the Congress, but the right still owns talk radio. In a country and culture where the middle has been characterized as the far left for decades, even so-called mainstream TV and cable networks fail to represent the citizens of th… Read full post »

Perhaps the most graphic example of a nation in denial came during the Bush Administration controversy about weapons of mass destruction. When the American press characterized the administration’s attempts to justify the war in Iraq by fixing the facts around the policy, they exposed an epidemi… Read full post »

As we watch the Obama administration and the 111th Congress struggle and debate the financial crisis, the healthcare crisis, the integrity crisis, the crisis of public trust in government, one thing becomes clear. Until the government becomes of the people, by the people and for the people again, the… Read full post »

We can present page after page of scientific evidence that traces the path of secondhand tobacco smoke from the cigarette to the human lungs; evidence that demonstrates how the chemicals in tobacco smoke effect the cellular level of the human body, causing disease, suffering and sometimes death. In s… Read full post »

I do not believe it’s fair to characterize advocating for the elimination of the sale of tobacco for burning as simplistic. To imply that it is like prohibition of alcohol is a very deliberately misleading idea created by the tobacco industry. The addictive drug in this case is nicotine, not sm… Read full post »

As I watch the deals being brokered on health care reform I have come to believe this issue will only be resolved after the midterm elections when we throw everyone out of office who thinks private health insurance companies are more important than the voters themselves! This means Democrats as well… Read full post »

As I contemplate the so called Blue Dog Democrats, as I examine the list of ten Democrats who waiver on support of a public option to healthcare reform, I am enraged! When I hear talk of forcing every American to participate in buying health insurance from for profit corporations, I am… Read full post »

Medicare Part D, the so called prescription drug benefit was crafted by the pharmaceutical industry with two intentions. Number one, to protect the industry’s profits. Number two, to bankrupt the medicare system. The plan was written so that beneficiaries would have to start paying the full pri… Read full post »

I have a few questions to add to the debates about the health care industry. What is the real cost of an MRI? What is the real cost of a colonoscopy? Does it really cost $80 for a nurse to put a bag of ice on my knee, then take it… Read full post »

Because of the way our political system works, the main focus on health care reform is NOT how to reduce costs and insure everyone. The main focus is how to keep the FOR PROFIT system so investors can continue to steal money intended to pay for care! The reason for high… Read full post »

This particular train of thought was put on its track by accusations that I am advocating socialized medicine; that I am a communist for suggesting that the delivery device that transfers funds into the health care system should be without profit! I am so sick of these diversionary tactics that alway… Read full post »

 (FICTION)

In 1910, I was eleven years old. It was the same year the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated in Washington D.C. as a British import. King Edward VII, King of Great Britain died while my parents were visiting London that spring. His son George took power to become King… Read full post »

 Rob, Kriemhild and Bob  Weimar, June 1991

 Rob and Bob at the Berlin Wall  June 1991

In June of 1991, my partner Rob and I were living in Berlin. We had moved to Germany to witness the reunification. Our friend Elke had invited us to spend a weekend… Read full post »

 (On the 14th anniversary of Rob's passing and in response to the debate about Same Sex Marriage)

A phone ringing in the middle of the night often suggests some foreboding news is about to change your life in a dramatic unimaginable way. This particular phone call came hours after I… Read full post »

Saul concealed his passport between his legs as he rehearsed reading the name Felix Heinrich Stoecker. Just twenty-four hours earlier his name had been Saul Neuman. He felt confident in his masquerade, for this was by no means the first time in his life he was called upon to lie about… Read full post »

I was unaware when I responded to a note from a friend, that I would suffer a kind of post-traumatic stress from simply watching a video. Reference was made to the fact that suspected witches had been burned in  a small village in Kenya. Curious, I Googled it, expecting to find… Read full post »

Even before we taste that first sweet breath of air, experience the warm yellow rays of the sun rising upon a new life, already we have taken you for granted. As we swim in the embryonic fluid, tethered by the cord that both feeds us and teaches us dependence,… Read full post »

KILL ANOTHER MAN, BUT DON'T LOVE ONE

dedicated to my friend and decorated war hero, Leonard Matlovich

1975

I live in a world where a man plays a role
Where emotions are never allowed to show
The real feelings trapped inside
And a real man must always hide
That which makes him soft and weak
Never a… Read full post »

An open letter to President Obama:

On the 14th anniversary of the death of my beloved partner Rob.

When I was a child homosexuality was called “the love that dare not speak its name.” In fact, it took me 24 years before I myself could muster the courage to speak the name… Read full post »

LOUTRO POETRY 1992

I have walked through life alone
And heard the songs of silence
I have followed other’s footsteps
Who have lessened my load
I have known the role of elder
To satisfy my lust to nurture
I have walked with you inside me
And seen the light divine

I have walked with Siva on my left
And kno… Read full post »

 Knowing

Knowing is your burden. You know things other can't know. You know things others don't want to know. This knowledge is found only in thought. It cannot be proved or disproved in conventional ways. It is written only in the heart. There you will find all the secrets you search.… Read full post »