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Matt Talbot

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March 2020

March 14, 2020

Hoarding

Resolved: Hoarding in times of shortage is a mortal sin. Discuss.

May 2017

May 21, 2017

Some Thoughts on Vatican II, Part 1

This is not a post on the documents or formal results of the Council, but...

January 2017

January 17, 2017

The Verdict of Future History

Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at...

December 2015

December 12, 2015

A Unique Remedy for Under-Served Communities

ONE IDEA I’VE BEEN MEANING TO WRITE ABOUT is a proposal to provide banking services...

September 2015

September 02, 2015

“Thank You For Your Service”

GIVEN THE IMMENSE SACRIFICES of our military men and women over the last 14 years,...

March 2015

March 25, 2015

A Desert, In Two Senses

I RECEIVED NEWS RECENTLY that an old friend has had some health issues, so I...

January 2015

January 22, 2015

Some words about Dr. King, Part 1

MONDAY WAS THE 86TH ANNIVERSARY of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., so...

December 2014

December 19, 2014

Further Thoughts on Torture

FORMER VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday. This is...

December 11, 2014

Some Thoughts on the Torture Report

ON TUESDAY, SENATE DEMOCRATS RELEASED DETAILS of the torture program authorized at the highest levels...

November 2014

November 11, 2014

Normandy Thoughts For Veterans’ Day

ON THE MORNING of our last full day in France, we took an intercity train...

November 06, 2014

Notes from My Trip to Europe, Part 1

I recently returned from a trip to Europe - Italy, Swizerland and France. I'll be...

August 2014

August 11, 2014

Resolved:

The American Movement Conservative opposition to the ACA and other current and previous social-democratic initiatives...

July 2014

July 22, 2014

Resolved:

In terms of their general experience, African Americans exist in an economic and social down-draft;...

July 09, 2014

An Increasingly Divided Country

I’VE MENTIONED BEFORE IN THIS SPACE that I have been worried about the long-term prospects...

July 03, 2014

Land That I Love

AMERICA IS A COMPELLING PLACE TO BEHOLD, in both the literal and more figurative uses...

June 2014

June 12, 2014

“They” and “Us”

MY FAMILY MOVED TO BENICIA, CALIFORNIA when I was 13 ½ years old, on March...

June 10, 2014

Technology is just a tool

I’VE BEEN ENJOYING A NEW SERIES ON HBO, “Silicon Valley.” It is produced by Mike...

May 2014

May 25, 2014

50 years ago

FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK, on May 22, 1964, Lyndon Baines Johnson stood before that...

May 22, 2014

Resisting Empire

IS THE UNITED STATES AN IMPERIAL POWER? I would say that it is, and that...

April 2014

April 15, 2014

Out With The Old

MY MIDDLE SCHOOL CLOSED ITS DOORS FOR GOOD four and a half years ago. I...

February 2014

February 27, 2014

Music and Truth

I’VE RECENTLY DISCOVERED A RELATIVELY NEW SINGER-SONGWRITER ON THE SCENE, a man named Mike Rosenberg,...

February 17, 2014

Resolved:

I've mentioned this before, but Capitalism has a self-destructive tendency to concentrate wealth and power...

December 2013

December 21, 2013

Hannibal Lecter was right

NO, NOT ABOUT EATING PEOPLE; I’m saying he was right to ask this question of...

December 19, 2013

Our Broken Pensions System

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren: “There is a $6.6 trillion gap between what Americans under 65...

December 18, 2013

Things I’ve Never Seen

I am 51 years old, live in Berkeley, California, and went to Mass in the...

November 2013

November 25, 2013

Rags, Rolls and Miracles

I love the story of the loaves and fishes. Jesus answers the doubts of his...

September 2013

September 26, 2013

Some Thoughts On Guns, Part 2

IN PART ONE, I began my discussion of gun control by saying that I have...

August 2013

August 29, 2013

Jazz, Truth and Integrity

A COUPLE WEEKS AGO, on my BART train commute home, I got distracted by my...

August 06, 2013

Some Thoughts on Guns

I thought I’d share some thoughts about guns and our society. If this post seems...

July 2013

July 28, 2013

Thoughts on Trayvon Martin

[NOTE: The discussion on the previous version of this post went wildly astray, which was...