Poet, Activist, Humanist
Doann Houghton-Alico 
“The migrant is the ‘defining figure of the 20th century,’ so wrote Salman Rushdie some 20 years ago” re-quoted in a recent New York Times Book Review article on the literature of immigration by Paul Sehgal. The refugee is also the defining figure of the early 21st century—at least politically. From tragic photos of dead … Read more
“Ithaca was the home of Odysseus and the end of his odyssey. As Odysseus said, ‘It is a rough land, but nurtures fine men. And I, for one, know no sweeter sight for a man’s eyes than his own country.’” A reminder of my blog of April 9 on nationalism, but let’s keep looking for … Read more
Given the insanity around us, it seems only appropriate to escape to the late 8th century BCE. Why not? The following is an excerpt from Voice of a Voyage: Rediscovering the World During a Ten-year Circumnavigation. Take a look especially at the last two paragraphs: the real skinny on the start of the Trojan War, … Read more
Nationalism and its anti-nationalism opposite, of particular interest right now in India as well as the United States, play into the hands of authoritarian and fascist ideals. Which is not to say they are limited to those ideologies. It seems natural and instinctive to “love” one’s country, otherwise there is a sense of disconnect, disassociation, … Read more
One of several wolves at Yellowstone. Several studies on fear have been published providing us with a better understanding of various factors, such as the “landscape of fear” in ecology (the term is from John W. Laundré, professor at University of California, Riverside). Laundré and his colleagues studied the impact of the release of wolves … Read more