City Called Heaven

I want to remember someone who gave me joy and hope and inspiration every time I heard her story or saw her. Ambassador, Educator, Artist, Friend to Many, and Lover of Kittens, Koko the Gorilla died Tuesday night in her sleep, aged forty-six, at her home in Woodside, California. Koko, and her caregivers, did more than anyone else to shatter the notion that non-human animals are capable of very human emotions and behaviors, including speech, play, and creative thought. There are many articles and videos out there. Time spent with Koko is well worth it. You can see in this grand old gorilla lady the face of humanity and the loving nature of creation. This post is titled with her most famous quote, which she signed again and again: "Koko love." Koko loved her adopted kittens. Koko loved her lifetime trainer, Dr. Francine “Penny” Patterson. She loved making new friends. And she loved being understood. She will be missed. But she helped humanity be a little more humane, a...

I apologize for this picture. It is disturbing to any ordinary human being. And I apologize for the fact that the girl is crying. And I am deeply sorry that she will be hurt still more by state-sponsored child abuse perpetrated by the United States of America. You can see the U.S. (that's us ) right there on the door behind the frightened girl. This American nation has never been a perfect beacon. We have done things far worse than this. Slavery and Jim Crow, the Native American Genocide, the Japanese internment, various unprovoked wars inflicted on other lands, killing hundreds of thousands and millions. In all of these cases, there was a complex interplay of motivations, greed and pride and fear. Always fear. But this latest sick fantasy of Donald Trunp and Jefferson Beauregard Sessions strikes me as distinctly different. It is just plain cruel. There is NO REASON to take these children from their parents. We should see this little girl in front of us every single day unti...