Category Archives: Justice

Big Dreams and Facing Facts

Posted on April 19, 2020 by John Swinburn

Facts often block the way for wishes, desires, and dreams. Facts dig wide trenches between here and there…between now and then…filling the channels with acid and alligators and creatures hungry to tear hopes into lifeless memories. Those damn facts! Why … Continue reading →

Posted in Ideas, Justice, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Unbearable Mistakes

Posted on February 11, 2019 by John Swinburn

A quote attributed to North Carolina Republican Congressman Walter Jones, who died yesterday, saddens and moves me. “I did not do what I should have done to read and find out whether Bush was telling us the truth about Saddam … Continue reading →

Posted in Empathy, Justice, Regret | Leave a comment

The Gravity of Justice

Posted on November 11, 2018 by John Swinburn

The way I got there is too convoluted to tell. Suffice it to say I made my way to a blog post that described the writer’s journey of being selected as a juror and then, just as the trial was … Continue reading →

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Euthanizing a Sick Year

Posted on December 31, 2017 by John Swinburn

I’ve skimmed along the surface of an angry, tumultuous time until I’ve finally reached it: the last day of 2017. This year, one of monstrous upheaval, forced us to reckon with the reality that U.S. world dominance is transitory. By … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice, Philosophy, Politics | Leave a comment

Venezuelans and Their Food

Posted on July 26, 2017 by John Swinburn

Earlier today, an article on the National Public Radio website about a food common in Venezuela, called arepas, launched my exploration of the dish. Several recipes later, my interest grew beyond food as I became increasingly intrigued about the current state of … Continue reading →

Posted in Compassion, Food, Justice, Politics | Leave a comment

What Are We—What Am I—Going to Do About This?

Posted on February 7, 2016 by John Swinburn

Chance encounters sometimes lead one to think about things that might rarely bubble to the surface of consciousness were it not for prompting by that meeting. Yesterday was one such occasion. While attending a Garvan Gardens workshop entitled Cooking with Fresh Herbs: … Continue reading →

Posted in Compassion, Empathy, Justice, Philosophy | Leave a comment

One Hundred Ninety-Nine

Posted on July 18, 2015 by John Swinburn

I just read a piece from the New York Magazine entitled The Hard Truths of Ta-Nehisi Coates. It is the sort of thing one should not read early in the morning if one expects the rest of the day, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice, Racism | Leave a comment

Ferguson

Posted on November 25, 2014 by John Swinburn

Part of me—a large part of me—sees the violence that erupted last night in Ferguson, Missouri as uninformed ignorance and baseless rage, fueled by bad assumptions and blinded by emotions. Neither I, nor the protestors and looters, heard the grand … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice | 2 Comments

More Justice

Posted on February 9, 2014 by John Swinburn

The announcements have become routine: someone convicted long ago for murder exonerated on the basis of DNA evidence or some other incontrovertible proof that the conviction was fraudulently obtained. The latest I’ve heard about involves two men who were falsely … Continue reading →

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DiDi’s

Posted on February 8, 2014 by John Swinburn

Yesterday, my favorite wife and I decided to splurge…instead of eating soup at home, we went out for lunch at a place newly re-christened as DiDi’s.  It had been called Abuela’s Kitchen, but a woman who served us (I assume … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Justice | 8 Comments