Something to Think About . . .

I’ve previously noted that my straight friend and ally Iggy is dedicated to facilitating mind and body transformation – within his own life and the lives of others who are similarly interested in holistic personal growth and change. To this end, Iggy’s professional/vocational life focuses on providing a range of services, including mindset mentoring, naprapathic massage, and personal training in boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai strength building and conditioning.

Iggy also regularly posts videos, reflections, and memes via social media that convey his understanding of the need for – and ways of cultivating – lasting postive change in our lives. His recent posting of the above caught my attention.

I especially appreciate the question – What if it all works out? – and the invitation and challenge it offers: Let go. Allow all to fall into place.

Indeed, I like it so much that I thought I’d share it here at The Wild Reed. Thanks, Iggy!

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• “Your Perception Is a Choice”
• Australian Sojourn – April-May 2026: Gulmarrad, Maclean, and Brooms Head
• A Fresh Take on Masculinity
• Home to Myself
• Opening to Love
• Surrendering in Sacred Trust
• Trusting the Sacred Flow of Life
• Love’s the Only Dance
• Active Waiting: A Radical Attitude Toward Life
• Jesus and the Art of Letting Go

Image 1: Iggy.
Image 2: Michael J. Bayly (May 2026).

Yep . . .

When people ask about my politics, I tell them Bernie is as far to the right I am ever willing to go.

– Michael Hurwitz
via social media
June 9, 2026

And, actually, you don't need to “watch this space.” You can see what’s already there by clicking here, here, here, here, and here.



Related Off-site Links:
The Democratic Party: Architects of Cowardice, Accomplices to Fascism – Henry A. Giroux (CounterPunch, September 8, 2025).
Liberals Cannot Stop Authoritarianism by Compromising With It – Radley Balko (The UnPopulist, August 28, 2025).
Why the Democratic Party Can’t Save Us From Trump’s Authoritarianism – Henry A. Giroux (Truthout, August 21, 2017).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Why the Democratic Party Is Not Going to Save Us From Fascism
• Jeff Cohen on How Obama’s “Corporate Liberalism” Led to the Rise of Trump
• The Time for Illusions Is Over: Henry Giroux on the Democratic Party
• David Norton: “The Democratic Party Serves Capital, Not You”
• “Elected Democrats Have No Real Interest in Doing What the Base Wants”
• Tony Pentimalli on the Fallacy of the “Safe Political Center”

Something to Think About . . .

– Image: Bernard Hage

Related Off-site Links:
Trump Wants to Distract Americans From Scandals at Home With a Diversionary War – Christopher S. Chivvis (The Guardian, February 28, 2026).
“The Behavior of Rogue States”: Global Revulsion as U.S. and Israel Launch War on Iran – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, February 28, 2026).
U.S. and Israel Launch Unprovoked Attack on Iran, Risking Broader Regional War – Democracy Now! (February 28, 2026).
Oman’s Foreign Minister Said U.S.-Iran Deal Was “Within Our Reach.” Then Trump Started Bombing – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, February 28, 2026).
We’re at War with Iran – Marianne Williamson (Transform, February 28, 2026).
Israel Strikes Two Schools in Iran, Killing More Than 80 People – Al Jazeera (February 28, 2026).
Trump Says Bombing of Iran to Continue “Uninterrupted” After Reported Killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, February 28, 2026).
Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Is Killed in Israeli Strike, Ending 36-Year Iron Rule – Jackie Northam, James Hider, and Peter Kenyon (NPR News, February 28, 2026).
“Bombs Will Be Dropping Everywhere”: Trump Launches Illegal Regime Change War Against Iran – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, February 28, 2026).
U.S. Intervention Would Worsen Iran’s Crisis: An Interview with Phyllis Bennis – Institute for Policy Studies (January 20, 2026).
Wait, Why Is Israel Allowed to Have Nukes? – Alex Skopic (Current Affairs, June 20, 2025).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Israel’s and the United States’ Rationale for War on Iran Is “All Bullshit”
• Anand Giridharadas: “The Epstein Class Is Defined by Amorality”
• Lee Camp: “The Epstein Scandal Has Revealed the Revolting Depravity of the Ruling Elite”
• Anand Giridharadas on the “Elite Network” Around Jeffrey Epstein
• Phyllis Bennis on the “Stark Danger” Posed by Israel’s Attack on Iran (2025)
• Saying “No” to War on Iran (2020)
• Veterans for Peace Strongly Condemns U.S. Aggression Towards Iran (2020)
• Major Danny Sjursen: Quote of the Day – May 15, 2019
• Jeff Cohen: Quote of the Day – January 29, 2011

Something to Think About . . .

Halloween: a day when we get it right.

Strangers come to us, beautiful, ugly, odd or scary, and we accept them all without question, compliment them, treat them kindly, and give them good things.

Why don’t we live like that?

– Steve Garnass-Holmes

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Halloween Thoughts
• A Hallowtide Reflection
• At Hallowtide, Pagan Thoughts on Restoring Our World and Our Souls
• Resilience and Hope
• An All Hallows Eve Reflection
• Hallowtide Reflections

Image: MelodyArtStyle.

We Are One

– Holly Holloway

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Forever Oneness
• The Most Sacred and Simple Mystery of All
• The Source is Within You
• Jesus: The Revelation of Oneness
• The Mystic Jesus: “A Name for the Unalterable Love That All of Us Share”
• In the Garden of Spirituality – Wendy Benning Swanson
• Held in the Presence of God
• As the Last Walls Dissolve . . . Everything Is Possible

Something to Think About . . .

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Autumn: Season of Transformation and Surrender
• Stasha Ginsburg on the Living Mystery That Infuses the Equinox
• A Time of Transformation
• Autumnal Thoughts and Visions (2022)
• Autumn . . . Within and Beyond (2021)
• Autumn . . . Within and Beyond (2018)
• Autumn . . . Within and Beyond (2016)
• O Sacred Season of Autumn
• “Thou Hast Thy Music Too”
• Autumn Psalm
• “This Autumn Land Is Dreaming”
• Autumn’s “Wordless Message”
• Autumnal (and Rather Pagan) Thoughts on the Making of “All Things New”
• Brigit Anna McNeill on Hearing the Wild and Natural Call to Go Inwards
• Anna Blaedel on the “Guidance of North Stars”
• Autumn: Season of the Soul
• Time to Go Inwards
• Love’s the Only Dance
• Jesus and the Art of Letting Go
• Surrendering in Sacred Trust
• Walking Away
• Taking the High Road
• The Empty Beach

Domestic Extremist-Related Killings in the U.S. by Perpetrator Political Affiliation (2015-2024)

– Source: ADL

Following is a related article by Alex Samuels, first published September 12, 2025 by Daily Kos.

_______________

Americans See Left and Right Violence
as Equal issues. The Data Doesn’t

By Alex Samuels

Daily Kos
September 12, 2025
There’s a wide gap between right-wing and left-wing violence in the U.S. – and it doesn’t line up with what many Americans believe.

A YouGov poll released late Wednesday found that Americans are almost evenly split on which side poses a greater threat: 31% say left-wing violence is a bigger issue, 33% say right-wing violence is, and 36% weren’t sure. The partisan divide was clear – two-thirds of Republicans blamed the left, while 62% of Democrats expressed more concern about the right.

However, the data on political violence shows a much more lopsided situation.

A 2021 study published in the journal Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law and Society analyzed ideologically motivated extremist killings from 1990 to 2020. The results were clear: Only 42 incidents of politically motivated homicide, or 15.6% of all incidents, involved far-left extremists. In contrast, far-right extremists were responsible for 227 incidents – 84.4% of the total.

“A far-right ideologically motivated homicide has occurred at least once every year since 1990,” the study’s authors wrote. “By comparison, far-left ideologically motivated homicides were present for only 17 years of the 31-year timespan of the current analysis.”

And this pattern of far-right violence hasn’t slowed since 2020, the final year included in the study’s data.

For instance, the study doesn’t include the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, for which President Donald Trump later pardoned his supporters. And in October 2022, an assailant broke into former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home and attacked her husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer. Earlier this year, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence was set on fire while his family was sleeping inside. Then in June, a gunman targeted Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, killing state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife inside their home.

Right-wing violence isn’t just persistent – it’s accelerating. Yet many prominent officials, including the president, have downplayed or even excused it. The killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Wednesday has emboldened far-right voices to call for “war”-like retaliation against the left, even as Trump frames right-wing radicals as well-meaning.

“I’ll tell you something that’s gonna get me in trouble, but I couldn’t care less. The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime,” Trump said. “The radicals on the left are the problem.”

That narrative doesn’t hold up. The aforementioned study makes one thing clear: The far-right has been the driving force behind ideologically motivated killings for decades. And it’s not the only research to draw that conclusion.

A 2022 study published by the highly regarded scientific journal PNAS found that right-wing extremists are more likely to engage in political violence than their left-wing counterparts. Researchers tied that risk to personality traits often associated with right-wing ideology, such as closed-mindedness, dogmatism, and a heightened need for order and certainty, all of which can intensify in-group bias and hostility toward outsiders.

By contrast, the study found that left-leaning individuals tend to score higher on openness and tolerance for ambiguity, and are less likely to support social dominance – factors that correlate with a lower risk of using violence. Other studies have even identified an “empathy gap” between liberals and conservatives, which may help explain the frequency of far-right attacks.

Even federal agencies have been sounding the alarm. In early January, the Justice Department warned that militant white-supremacist and nationalist violence continues to rise. Since 1990, far-right extremists have carried out more than 520 killings, compared to just 78 by far-left extremists. A Department of Homeland Security threat assessment flagged immigration grievances, election denialism, and even pandemic stress as likely drivers of attacks in the years ahead.

So what accounts for why the public is split on whether left- or right-wing violence is more of a problem?

Part of that divide may stem from how incidents are presented. Violence against right-wing figures is often assumed to originate from the left, but that’s not always the case. Both of Trump’s would-be assassins last year had complex political backgrounds: One was a registered Republican but donated to a liberal group, and the other was a 2016 Trump voter who turned against him and whose most recent voter registration was unaffiliated with any party.

Left-wing violence, while far less common, has been inching up in recent years. The 2021 Criminology study found that “far-left violence has increased over the last five years” and that “while far-right extremists are responsible for a higher frequency of incidents, far-left extremists more often kill more than one individual.” But the researchers caution that under the right social and political conditions, the threat could grow well beyond its historic baseline – one reason they call for data-driven strategies to address domestic extremism across the spectrum.

For now, the greatest danger is obvious. Right-wing violence isn’t a relic of the past – it’s an active and larger threat. Experts warn that continuous talk of “stolen elections,” immigrant “invasions,” and revenge is further stoking a fire, meaning the next attack is not a matter of if but when. The real question is whether the country will respond before more lives are lost.

– Alex Samuels
Daily Kos
September 12, 2012

Related Off-site Links:
Trump’s Partisan Double Standard for Assassinations Is Chilling – Zeeshan Aleem (MSNBC, September 13, 2025).
Noam Chomsky Was Right About Political Violence – Michael Walker and Aaron Bastani (Novara Media, September 13, 2025).
“I Couldn’t Care Less”: Trump’s Downplaying of Right-Wing Violence Continues Long Pattern – Jacob Knutson (Democracy Docket, September 12, 2025).
Trump Doubles Down on Blaming “Radical-Left” After Vow to Go After Political Violence – Alexandra Hutzler and Michelle Stoddart (ABC News, September 12, 2025).
Is “Radical-Left” Violence Really on the Rise in America? – The Economist (September 12, 2025).
The Real “Political Violence” in America – Taylor Lorenz (The Taylor Lorenz Podcast, September 12, 2025).
“Not Muslim, Not an Immigrant, Not Black”: Debates Intensify After Suspected Charlie Kirk Shooter Identified – Middle East Eye (September 12, 2025).
FBI Names 22-Year-Old Tyler Robinson as Charlie Kirk Murder Suspect – Brad Reed (Common Dreams, September 12, 2025).
Left Voices Speak Clearly on Horror – and Dangers – of Charlie Kirk Assassination – Brad Reed (Common Dreams, September 12, 2025).
The Strange American Ritual Where Everyone Other Than Straight White People Pray the Shooter Isn’t “One of Our Own” – Shaun King (The North Star, September 12, 2025).
Trump’s Cynical Use of the Kirk Assassination – Robert Reich (RobertReich.com, September 12, 2025).
Mehdi Hasan: Trump Is Weaponizing the Murder of Charlie Kirk to Go After the Left – Democracy Now! (September 12, 2025).
Has Trump’s Reichstag Moment Arrived? – Chuck Idelson (Common Dreams, September 12, 2025).
The Shameful Christian Idolatry and Fraudulent Martyrdom of Charlie Kirk – John Pavlovitz (The Beautiful Mess, September 12, 2025).
Hypocritical Conservatives Are Using Charlie Kirk’s Horrific Murder to Cynically Smear the Left – Mehdi Hasan (Zeteo, September 11, 2025).
Charlie Kirk’s Assassination: A Dark, Cold Winter Is Coming – Owen Jones (Battlelines, September 11, 2025).
Charlie Kirk’s Toxic Legacy of Hatred and Division – Christopher D. Cook (Common Dreams, September 11, 2025).
“Moment of Great Peril”: Jeff Sharlet on Killing of Charlie Kirk and Rising Political Violence in U.S. – Democracy Now! (September 11, 2025).
Assessing the Extent of Political Violence in America – Ilya Somin (Reason, September 11, 2025).
Progressives – Who Reviled Charlie Kirk’s Politics – Repudiate His Murder – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, September 10, 2025).

UPDATES: Stephen Miller Says He and Trump Will Use Law Enforcement to “Dismantle” the Left After Charlie Kirk Shooting – Stephen Prager (Common Dreams, September 13, 2025).
“The Martyrdom of Charlie Kirk”: Journalist Chris Hedges on the Weaponization of Kirk’s Killing – Democracy Now! (September 15, 2025).
White House Working to Criminalize Left-Wing Dissent as “Domestic Terror” in Wake of Charlie Kirk Murder – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, September 15, 2025).
“Political Violence” is All Around Us – Stephen Prager (Current Affairs, September 16, 2025).
Leaked Chats Show Alleged Kirk Killer “Doesn’t Fit Into Any Tidy Narrative” – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, September 16, 2025).
The Sad Truth About Charlie Kirk’s Assassin – Francesca Fiorentini (The Bitchuation Room, September 17, 2025).
Black Pastors Torch Unsettling Sanitization of Charlie Kirk’s Hateful Legacy – Roland S. Martin (via YouTube, September 17, 2025).
Conservatives Demand Trump Administration Violently Suppress the Left to Avenge Charlie Kirk – Mike Figueredo (The Humanist Report, September 18, 2025).


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• A Simple and Brutal Truth
• “Bullets Are Replacing Ballots and Political Arguments Are Being Answered with Gunfire”
• Calvin Michaels: “I Really Don’t Want to Hear What Charlie Kirk’s Supporters Have to Say When It Comes to Morality”
• Naming the Pattern and the Source
• A “Racist and Factless Meltdown” Over Omar Fateh
• Robert Reich: Quote of the Day – July 14, 2024

Time to Grow Up . . .

It seems to me that it is a minority that ever gets the true and full Gospel – in any denomination. Most of us just keep worshiping Jesus and arguing over the right way to do it. The amazing thing is that Jesus never once says, “Worship me!” whereas he frequently says, “Follow me” (see, for example, Matthew 4:19).

Christianity is a lifestyle – a way of being in the world that is simple, nonviolent, shared, and loving. However, we made it into an established religion (and all that goes with that) and avoided the lifestyle change itself. One could be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish, and vain throughout most of Christian history, and still believe that Jesus is one’s personal Lord and Savior or continue to receive the sacraments in good standing. The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on earth is too great.

– Richard Rohr, O.F.M
Excerpted from Yes, and...: Daily Meditations
Franciscan Media (2017)

See also the related Wild Reed posts:
• Marianne Williamson: “We’re Living in Very Serious Times and We Need to Be Very Serious People”
• The King of Love My Shepherd Is
• The Model of Leadership Offered by Jesus: “More Like the Gardener Than the Owner of the Garden”
• Jesus Our Guide to Mystical Love – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
• Revolution and Mysticism
• Jesus: Path-Blazer of Radical Transformation
• Adam Eriksen on the Subversive Politics of Palm Sunday
• Palm Sunday: “A Planned Political Demonstration”
• The Mystic Jesus: “A Name for the Unalterable Love That All of Us Share”
• Why Jesus is My Man

Image: Artist unknown.

Something to Think About . . .

– Source

Related Off-site Links:
As Apocalyptic Fires Torch Los Angeles, Climate Campaigners Say “Big Oil Did This” – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, January 9, 2025).
Los Angeles Fires Should Be a Climate Wake-Up Call: 5 Dead and Over 130,000 Evacuated in Uncontained “Apocalypse” – Democracy Now! (January 9, 2025).
How Big Oil Made It Harder to Fight the Los Angeles Fires – Freddy Brewster and Lucy Dean Stockton (TruthOut, January 9, 2025).
The Big Bang, Horrifying LA Fires, and Our Self-Destructive Species – Bill McKibben (Common Dreams, January 9, 2025).
“This Is Unprecedented”: Several Horrific Wildfires Ravage Los Angeles – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, January 8, 2025).
Hollywood Hills Fire Breaks Out as Deadly Wildfires Burn Out of Control Across Los Angeles Area – Manuel Valdes, Hallie Golden and Julie Watson (AP News, January 8, 2025).
Trump’s and Musk’s Disgusting Response to California Fires – Malcolm Ferguson (The New Republic, January 8, 2025).
Critics Say Trump Got “Nothing Right” About Causes of L.A. Wildfires – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, January 9, 2025).
Preening While L.A. Burns: Biden, Trump and Newsom’s Response Shows It’s All About Them – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, January 9, 2025).
Amid Los Angeles Inferno, Home Insurers Under Fire for Policy Cancellations – Ken Klippenstein (KenKlippenstein.com, January 9, 2025).
Endless Stream of Climate Disasters Bolsters Demand to “Make Polluters Pay” – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, September 30, 2024).
Fossil Fuel Industry Propaganda Blamed as Record Heat Scorches Planet – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, August 8, 2024).
Why Science Backs a Fossil Fuel Phase Out – Timmon Wallace (Common Dreams, December 12, 2023).
“Cabal of Oil Producers”: Climate Scientist Kevin Anderson Slams Corporate Capture of COP28 – Democracy Now! (December 7, 2023).
Big Oil Wins Big at COP28 in Dubai – Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan (Democracy Now!, December 14, 2023).

UPDATES: The Architects of L.A.’s Wildfire Devastation – Katya Schwenk (The Lever, January 10, 2025).
Climate Scientist Peter Kalmus Fled L.A. Fearing Wildfires. His Old Neighborhood Is Now a Hellscape – Democracy Now! (January 10, 2025).
“Insatiable Greed”: Richest 1% Have Already Burned Through Their Carbon Limit for 2025 – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, January 10, 2025).
The Los Angeles Fires Didn’t Have to Be This Bad – Ben Burgis (Jacobin, January 10, 2025).
Ah, Los Angeles – Marianne Williamson (Transform, January 10, 2025).
Los Angeles Wildfires Have Become Perfect Fuel for Trump and Climate Denial – Matthew Rozsa (Salon, January 11, 2025).
Paradise Lost: The Burning of L.A. Is Not Just a Natural Disaster. It’s a Man-Made Catastrophe – The Free Press (January 11, 2025).
The Fires in Gaza Are the Fires in Los Angeles – Aaron Kirshenbaum (Common Dreams, January 11, 2025).
L.A. Hellscape Fueled by Oligarch Greed and Rigged Politics – Krystal Ball (Breaking Points, January 13, 2025).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Something to Think About – October 8, 2024
• Peter Kalmus on Fossil-fueled Climate Change and Hurricane Helene
• Memes of the Times
• COP28: “Mend It, Don’t End It”
• Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson Joins NYC’s March to End Fossil Fuels
• Bernie Sanders: Quote of the Day – July 7, 2023
• “Smoke Plume” in Minneapolis
• Capital Weather Gang: Quote of the Day – June 7, 2023
• Frances Moore Lappé: Quote of the Day – May 22, 2023
• “It Is in Our Hands”
• George Monbiot: Quote of the Day – July 21, 2022
• Declaration of Interdependence
• Biophilia, the God Pan, and a Baboon Named Scott
• Bernie Sanders: Quote of the Day – July 1, 2021
• The Stakes Have Shifted
• The Link Between Destruction of Biodiversity and Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Something to Think About – February 10, 2020
• In Australia, “the Land As We Know It Is No More”
• Greta Thunberg: Quote of the Day – September 23, 2019
• Five Powerful Responses to the Amazon Fires
• Greta Thunberg: Quote of the Day – March 16, 2019
• As the World Burns, Calls for a “Green New Deal”
• Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – August 29, 2017
• The People’s Climate Solidarity March – Minneapolis, 4/29/17
• “It Is All Connected”
• Standing Together
• Standing in Prayer and Solidarity with the Water Protectors of Standing Rock
• The Paris Climate Talks, Multilateralism, and a “New Approach to Climate Action”
• Rachel Smolker: Quote of the Day – September 19, 2014
• Superstorm Sandy: A “Wake-Up Call” on Climate Change
• Chris Hedges: Quote of the Day – May 31, 2011

Something to Think About . . .

Related Off-site Links:
The “Silent Violence” of Corporate Greed and Power – Ralph Nader (Common Dreams, December 8, 2024).
Behind UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Is a Larger System of Corporate Rule – Derek Seidman (TruthOut, December 12, 2024).
The Hated U.S. Healthcare System Is Why Government Shouldn’t Be Run Like a Business – Thom Hartmann (Common Dreams, December 9, 2024).
For-Profit Insurance Industry Rife with “Greed”: An Interview with David Sirota – Rising (December 9, 2024).
62% of Americans Agree U.S. Government Should Ensure Everyone Has Health Coverage – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, December 9, 2024).
Serving the Public Good? – An Analysis of Private Prisons and For-Profit Incarceration in the United States – Karoline Marko (Frontiers, November 4, 2021).
For Illinois Students, the Promises of For-Profit Colleges Often Ring Hollow – Lisa Kurian Philip (Marketplace,July 23, 2024).
Taxpayers Cover Tuition at California’s For-Profit Schools. The Results? Low-Wage, High-Turnover Jobs – Adam Echelman (CalMatters, August 21, 2024).
For-Profit Colleges Fund Lawmakers Who Led Attack on Top Universities Over Campus Protests – Tom Perkins and Will Craft (The Guardian, August 2, 2024).
How Americans Differ in Their Views on For-Profit Education – Cristian Reyes (New America, September 13, 2024).
“Stupid Is as Stupid Does”: The Gumpification of America, 30 Years Later – Melanie McFarland (Salon, July 7, 2024).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Progressive Perspectives on This Moment of Class Consciousness
• Something to Think About – December 8, 2024
• A Deeper Perspective on What’s Really Attacking American Democracy
• The Wrong Type of Government Intervention

Something to Think About . . .

– Dr. Butch Ware
Former Green Party 2024 vice presidential candidate
December 7, 2024

Above: Butch Ware in Minneapolis – October 14, 2024.
For The Wild Reed’s coverage of Dr. Ware’s September 8, 2024
meet-and-greet event in Minneapolis, click here.

Related Off-site Links:
Single Payer Has Been Part of the Green Party Platform Since 2000 – The Green Party U.S. official website.
Killing of Insurance CEO Reveals Simmering Anger at U.S. Health System – Mike Wendling and Madeline Halpert (BBC News, December 6, 2024).
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s Killing Shines Light on Health Insurance Denial Rates – Lukas I. Alpert (Market Watch, December 6, 2024).
“Deny, Defend, Depose”: Top Healthcare CEO Assassinated – Sabrina Salvati (Sabby Sabs, December 6, 2024).
After Public Stood United, Blue Cross Blue Shield Reverses Greedy Decision – Kit Cabello (Hard Lens Media, December 6, 2024).
The Deep Roots of Americans’ Hatred of Their Health Care System – Dylan Scott (Vox, December 6, 2024).
A Murder on the Streets Has Fear Rising in the Suites – Sam Pizzigati (Inequality.org, December 8, 2024).
Healthcare in America: A Conversation with Dr. Steve Farber – Marianne Williamson (Firelight Chat, August 9, 2023).
The “Silent Violence” of Corporate Greed and Power – Ralph Nader (Common Dreams, December 8, 2024).
Butch Ware, Former Green Party VP Nominee, Announces Next Run for Office – Kaitlyn Kennedy (MSN.com, November 11, 2024).
The Fallacy of the Spoiler: Why the Machine Elites Fear Democracy – Richard Moser (CounterPunch, June 6, 2016).

UPDATES: Police Say Luigi Mangione, Suspected Killer of Insurance CEO, Had “Ill Will Toward Corporate America” – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, December 9, 2024).
Healthcare CEO’s “Unnecessary Care” Rant Prompts Another Tidal Wave of Fury – Zachary Folk (The Daily Beast, December 9, 2024).
The Hated U.S. Healthcare System Is Why Government Shouldn’t Be Run Like a Business – Thom Hartmann (Common Dreams, December 9, 2024).
ABC Anchor Rebuked for Claiming Popular, Cost-Saving Medicare for All Won’t Happen – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, December 9, 2024).
For-Profit Insurance Industry Rife with “Greed”: An Interview with David Sirota – Rising (December 9, 2024).
62% of Americans Agree U.S. Government Should Ensure Everyone Has Health Coverage – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, December 9, 2024).
Deny, Defend, Depose: UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Slaying Highlights Widespread Rage at Healthcare Industry – Democracy Now! (December 10, 2024).
Healthcare Is a Right: CEO’s Killing Ignites Calls for Reform Amid Trump’s Plan to Privatize Medicare – Democracy Now! (December 10, 2024).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• The Green Party’s Jill Stein and Butch Ware Give Their First Post-Election Interview
• Quotes of the Day – June 28, 2019
• Progressive Perspectives on Where Democrats Went Wrong in the 2024 Election
• Jill Stein: “We Give Reasons for People to Come Out and Vote”
• The “Green Smoothie” Option
• We’re Witnessing a Liberal Meltdown Over Jill Stein
• Jill Stein in the Twin Cities
• Anti-Genocide Presidential Candidate Jill Stein Reflects on the First Anniversary of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza
• Green Party Vice Presidential Candidate Butch Ware in Minneapolis
• Butch Ware: “You Can Actually Vote Your Conscience”
• “This Is a Tragic, Heartbreaking Moment in the History of Humanity”: Butch Ware on the Gaza Genocide
• Peter Bloom on the Unmasking of the “Democratic Charade”
• When Democrats Undermine Democracy
• “Americans Deserve Choices”: Jill Stein on Breaking Points – 4/30/24
• Progressive Perspectives on the Presidential Nomination of Kamala Harris
• Progressive Perspectives On an American Coronation
• Demolishing the False Narrative About Jill Stein and the 2016 Election

Something to Think About This Election Day

– Art: Rick Frausto

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Prayer of the Week
• Final Thoughts on the 2024 Presidential Election
• Jeffrey C. Isaac: Quote of the Day – October 28, 2024


Related Off-site Links and Updates:
November’s Unsung Heroes: Election Workers – Tim Karr (Common Dreams, November 4, 2024).
When Do Polls Open and Close on Election Day 2024? Times to Know for Tuesday – Emily Hung (CBS News, November 4, 2024).
Harris and Trump Make Final Pitches in What Could Be One of Closest Elections in Modern U.S. History – Democracy Now! (November 5, 2024).
On the Eve of the U.S. Election, Green Party Presidential Candidate Dr. Jill Stein Responds to Her Pro-Harris Critics – Dimitri Lascaris (Reason to Resist, November 4, 2024).
Claudia De la Cruz Presidential Campaign Announces Multi-State Agreement with Jill Stein and Cornel West Campaigns – Jordan Willow Evans (Independent Political Report, November 3, 2024).
This Is Not the End of America: “Democracy Lives in the People.” – McKay Coppins (The Atlantic, November 1, 2024).


Tuesday, 10:00 am
A Wild Election Is Coming to a Close – and No One Is Sure How It Will End – Domenico Montanaro (NPR News, November 5, 2024).
Feeling the Stress of Election Day? Here Are a Few Healthy Ways to Cope – Obed Manuel (NPR News, November 5, 2024).
Trump and Allies Have Primed Supporters to Falsely Believe He Has No Chance of Losing – Stephen Fowler (NPR News, November 5, 2024).
Trump Tried to Steal the Vote in Georgia in 2020. Now Election Deniers Run Georgia’s Election System – Democracy Now! (November 5, 2024).
Harris Rode a Wave of Enthusiasm After She Took Over the Ticket. Does She Still Have It? – Elena Moore (NPR News, November 5, 2024).
Besides Trump and Harris, Here Are the Third Party Candidates in U.S. Election Fray – The Week (November 5, 2024).
In Michigan’s Arab-American Epicenter, Support for Jill Stein – Mike Colias (The Wall Street Journal, November 5, 2024).
Will Kamala Harris Lose to Jill Stein in Michigan? – Amr Salahi (The New Arab, November 5, 2024).


Tuesday, 1:00 pm
Most Voters in Presidential Election Say U.S. Democracy Is Under Threat, Exit Polls Show – Joseph Ax (Reuters, November 5, 2024).
Six Things That Could Swing the Election in Favor of Trump or Harris – Joey Garrison (USA Today via Yahoo! News, November 5, 2024).
How To Break The Two-Party System: A Conversation with Briahna Joy Gray and Michael Tracey – System Update with Glenn Greenwald (November 5, 2024).


Tuesday, 4:00 pm
Don’t Be Fooled by Early U.S. Vote Counts: They Might Be Misleading – Reuters (November 5, 2024).
The Associated Press Has Called Winners in Elections for More Than 170 Years. Here’s How It’s Done – Robert Yoon (AP News, November 5, 2024).


Tuesday, 7:00 pm
Polls in Swing States Begin to Close as Sharply Divided America Chooses Between Harris and Trump . . . or Opts to Go With Alternative Presidential Candidates – Zeke Miller, Michelle L. Price and Will Weissert (AP News, November 5, 2024).
Election Night Interview with Dr. Jill Stein – Clyde Shabazz (In the Green TV, November 5, 2024).
Trump Wins Three States, Harris Takes Vermont as First Polls Close – Jarrett Renshaw, Gabriella Borter, Joseph Ax and Helen Coster (Reuters, November 5, 2024).
Here We Are, America, But How Did We Get Here? – Lynn Parramore (Common Dreams, November 5, 2024).


Tuesday, 8:00 pm

Tuesday, 10:00 pm
Trump Takes Lead in U.S. Presidential Race But Battleground States Still Too Close to Call – Joseph Ax, Gram Slattery, Alexandra Ulmer and Stephanie Kelly (AP News, November 5, 2024).
Trump Wins North Carolina in Sharp Blow to Harris Campaign – Elena Moore (NPR News, November 5, 2024).
AP Poll: Harris Voters Motivated by Democracy, Trump Supporters by Inflation and Immigration – Josh Boak and Linley Sanders (AP News, November 5, 2024).
Mood Shifts at Harris Watch Party as Results Come In – Ilana Dutton (NPR News, November 5, 2024).


Tuesday, 11:00 pm

Republicans Win Control of U.S. Senate, House Still Up In the Air – Andy Sullivan (Reuters, November 5, 2024).
In a First, U.S. Independent Turnout Tops Democrats, Ties Republicans – Reuters (November 5, 2024).
Election Night Interview with Jill Stein: “Kamala Harris Has No One to Blame But Herself” – Mohamed Hassan (Middle East Eye, November 5, 2024).


Wednesday, 1:00 am
Trump Wins Georgia, Moving Closer to Reclaiming the White House – AP News (November 6, 2024).
Fox News Projects Trump Wins U.S. Presidency – Joseph Ax, Andrea Shalal, Jarrett Renshaw and Helen Coster (Reuters, November 6, 2024).
Donald Trump Leads While Kamala Harris Election Party Empties Out: Key Takeaways from the U.S. Election – Lucia Stein, Rebecca Armitage and Basel Hindeleh (ABC News, November 6, 2024).


Wednesday, 1:30 pm
Trump Wins Pennslyvania, Putting Him Three Electoral Votes Short of the Presidential Threshold – AP News (November 6, 2024).
Trump Claims Victory After Fox News Projects He Has Won U.S. Presidency – Joseph Ax, Andrea Shalal, Jarrett Renshaw and Helen Coster (Reuters, November 6, 2024).


Wednesday, 4:00 am

Donald Trump Has Won the Presidential Election and Will Return to the White House – Franco Ordoñez (NPR News, November 6, 2024).
Trump Wins; Congress Still in Limbo – Steve Peoples and Bill Barrow (AP News, November 6, 2024).
Brianha Joy Gray on the Green Anti-genocide Vote – Max Blumenthal and Aaron Maté (The Grayzone, November 6, 2024).


Wednesday, 10:00 am
“The Confederacy Won”: Why Donald Trump’s Reelection Is a Win for White Supremacy, Xenophobia and Hate – Democracy Now! (November 6, 2024).
Trump’s Return to Power Fueled by Hispanic and Working-class Voter Support – Jason Lange, Bo Erickson and Brad Heath (Reuters, November 6, 2024).
“This Is a Collapse of the Democratic Party”: Ralph Nader on the Roots of Trump’s Win Over Harris – Democracy Now! (November 6, 2024).
Corporate Mainstream Media in Shambles Over Trump Win – Rising (November 6, 2024).


NEXT:
Progressive Perspectives on Where Democrats
Went Wrong in the 2024 Presidential Election

Your True Source

When you take the time to draw on your listening-imagination, you will begin to hear this gentle voice at the heart of your life. It is deeper and surer than all the other voices of disappointment, unease, self-criticism and bleakness. All holiness is about learning to hear the voice of your own soul. It is always there and the more deeply you learn to listen, the greater surprises and discoveries that will unfold.

To enter into the gentleness of your own soul changes the tone and quality of your life. Your life is no longer consumed by hunger for the next event, experience or achievement. You learn to come down from the treadmill and walk on the earth. You gain a new respect for yourself and others and you learn to see how wonderfully precious this one life is. You begin to see through the enchanting veils of illusion that you had taken for reality. You no longer squander yourself on things and situations that deplete your essence. You know now that your true source is not outside you. Your soul is your true source and a new energy and passion awakens in you.

– John O’Donohue
Excerpted from Beauty: The Invisible Embrace
HarperCollins
2005

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• The Source Is Within You
• A Season of Listening – Part I | II | III | IV | V | VI
• Cultivating Stillness
• A Sacred Pause
• Aligning With the Living Light
• Mystical Participation
• I Need Do Nothing . . . I Am Open to the Living Light
• Finding Balance in the Presence of the Beloved
• Intimate Soliloquies
• Resting in the Presence of the Beloved
• Today I Will Be Still
• Time to Go Inwards
• In the Stillness and Silence of This Present Moment
• The Soul’s Beloved
• As the Last Walls Dissolve . . . Everything is Possible
• The Most Sacred and Simple Mystery of All
• Dwelling in Peace

Image: A filter-treated image of Syrian-born dancer Ahmad Joudeh, whose autobiography, Dance or Die, I’m currently reading. Ahmad dedicates his memoir “to the spirit that guides every single one of us, in the memory of the soul, where the flame is, our spirits glow.”

Something to Think About . . .

Related Off-site Links:
Hurricane Milton’s Severity Is Fueled by Climate Change, Experts Say – Matthew Rozsa (Salon, October 8, 2024).
Endless Stream of Climate Disasters Bolsters Demand to “Make Polluters Pay” – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, September 30, 2024).
Fossil Fuel Industry Propaganda Blamed as Record Heat Scorches Planet – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, August 8, 2024).
Why Science Backs a Fossil Fuel Phase Out – Timmon Wallace (Common Dreams, December 12, 2023).
“Cabal of Oil Producers”: Climate Scientist Kevin Anderson Slams Corporate Capture of COP28 – Democracy Now! (December 7, 2023).
Big Oil Wins Big at COP28 in Dubai – Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan (Democracy Now!, December 14, 2023).

UPDATE: “Big Oil’s Reckless Conduct” Caused Milton – and Now They Should Pay, Say Advocates – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, October 9, 2024).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Peter Kalmus on Fossil-fueled Climate Change and Hurricane Helene
• Memes of the Times
• COP28: “Mend It, Don’t End It”
• Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson Joins NYC’s March to End Fossil Fuels
• Bernie Sanders: Quote of the Day – July 7, 2023
• “Smoke Plume” in Minneapolis
• Capital Weather Gang: Quote of the Day – June 7, 2023
• Frances Moore Lappé: Quote of the Day – May 22, 2023
• “It Is in Our Hands”
• George Monbiot: Quote of the Day – July 21, 2022
• Declaration of Interdependence
• Biophilia, the God Pan, and a Baboon Named Scott
• Bernie Sanders: Quote of the Day – July 1, 2021
• The Stakes Have Shifted
• The Link Between Destruction of Biodiversity and Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Something to Think About – February 10, 2020
• In Australia, “the Land As We Know It Is No More”
• Greta Thunberg: Quote of the Day – September 23, 2019
• Five Powerful Responses to the Amazon Fires
• Greta Thunberg: Quote of the Day – March 16, 2019
• As the World Burns, Calls for a “Green New Deal”
• Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – August 29, 2017
• The People’s Climate Solidarity March – Minneapolis, 4/29/17
• “It Is All Connected”
• Standing Together
• Standing in Prayer and Solidarity with the Water Protectors of Standing Rock
• The Paris Climate Talks, Multilateralism, and a “New Approach to Climate Action”
• Rachel Smolker: Quote of the Day – September 19, 2014
• Superstorm Sandy: A “Wake-Up Call” on Climate Change
• Chris Hedges: Quote of the Day – May 31, 2011

Something to Think About . . .

Image: An al-Risala Scouts’ ambulance burns in the town of Sohmor in the Western Beqaa District of Lebanon as a result of Israeli bombing – September 23, 2024. (Source)


NEXT:
“A Year of War Against Children”

Related Off-site Links:
Lebanon Burns: Israel Expands Genocide Beyond Gaza – Mnar Adley (Mint Press, September 26, 2024).
“Hell Is Breaking Loose in Lebanon”: Israel Rejects Ceasefire Proposal as U.N. Chief Calls for Peace – Democracy Now! (September 26, 2024).
“Lebanese Civilians Are Paying the Price”: Israeli Strikes Kill Nearly 600, Displace Tens of Thousands – Democracy Now! (September 26, 2024).
To Stop Israel’s Expanding War, Biden Must Heed a New Demand: Arms Embargo – Brian Garvey (Common Dreams, September 26, 2024).
Netanyahu Has to Be Forced to Stop – Branko Marcetic (Jacobin, September 26, 2024).
Sen. Bernie Sanders Unveils Resolutions to Block U.S. Arms Sales as Israel Rejects Cease-Fire Call – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, September 26, 2024).
Beirut Suburbs or “Hezbollah Stronghold”? U.S. Media Parrots Israeli Propaganda to Justify Bombing Civilians – Séamus Malekafzali (The Intercept, September 25, 2024).
With All Eyes on Gaza, Israel Bulldozed “Mile After Mile” of West Bank – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, September 25, 2024).
Omar El Akkad on “the Privilege of Instantaneous Forgetting” – Christopher Bollen (Interview, July 23, 2021).

UPDATES: Israeli Strikes Displace 140,000 Kids in Lebanon as Netanyahu Vows to Keep Bombing – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, September 27, 2024).
Report from Beirut: Israel Is “Targeting Everyone” in Bombing Campaign, Killing 700+ in Just Days – Democracy Now! (September 27, 2024).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Protesting Weapons Manufacturer and Genocide Enabler General Dynamics
• Yousef Munayyer: Quote of the Day – August 30, 2024
• Breaking Down Kamala Harris’s DNC Speech on Gaza
• John Cusack: Quote of the Day – July 26, 2024
• Phyllis Bennis: “We Can Never Give Up Hope”
• Kyle Kulinski: Quote of the Day – May 23, 2024
• Naomi Klein’s Powerful Words on Israel’s and the West’s Ongoing Gaza Genocide
• Outrage and Despair
• “This Is a Genocidal Project”
• “A Genocide Has Been Normalized”
• Voices of Reason and Compassion on the Crisis in Israel and Gaza
• More Voices of Reason and Compassion on the Crisis in Israel and Gaza
• Josh Paul: Quote of the Day – March 28, 2024
• Phyllis Bennis: Quote of the Day – March 28, 2024
• Michael Fakhri: Quote of the Day – February 27, 2024
• Sabrina Salvati: Quote of the Day – January 2, 2024
• Christmas 2023 – Reflections, Activism, Art, and Celebrations
• Jehad Abusalim: Quote of the Day – December 8, 2023
• Ta-Nehisi Coates: Quote of the Day – November 2, 2023
• In the Midst of the “Great Unraveling,” a Visit to the Prayer Tree
• Something to Think About – October 12, 2023
• Eric Levitz: Quote of the Day – October 11, 2023
• Phyllis Bennis: “If We Are Serious About Ending This Spiraling Violence, We Need to Look at Root Causes”
• “Nothing About Today is ‘Unprovoked’”
• “The Mistreatment and Discrimination Against Palestinians Is Not Unprecedented. It’s Baked Into the Foundation of the Political System in Israel”
• “Essential Viewing for All Who Care to Understand the Plight of the People of Palestine”
• Progressive Perspectives on the Ongoing Israeli-Palestinian “Nightmare” (2021)
• Something to Think About – July 29, 2018
• Noura Erakat: Quote of the Day – May 15, 2018
• For Some Jews, Israel’s Treatment of Palestinians is Yet Another Jewish Tragedy
• Remembering the Six-Day War and Its Ongoing Aftermath
• David Norris: Quote of the Day – August 12, 2014