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Public Citizen

Larry Barnett: Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

There’s no shortage of anger in the world. People go out of their way to punish or harm others with their words and opinions. Social media has become a hotbed of cruelty, falsehood and accusation, and people are numbed by an endless stream of insults... Continue

Larry Barnett: Home Alone

Common wisdom is that women live longer than men, but at a recent holiday party, I found myself in the company of two other widowers. Like most men, we conversed stoically about the loss of our wives in straightforward fashion; there were no tears shed... Continue

Larry Barnett: The Engine of Civilization?

I watched the news today, "oh boy," about AI for weapons-equipped drones. The General in charge of that program spoke about being prepared to fight China, which has greatly improved its military capabilities. So here we are, thick in the middle of the digital age... Continue

Larry Barnett: What’s to Become of Us?

The student of history quickly learns that new technologies do more than support the operation of culture, they transform and replace it. From the wheel to the plow, from the printing press to the iMac computer, society and everyday lives take on the characteristics of... Continue

Larry Barnett: Thing Power

Why there is something instead of nothing continues to be a subject of debate. Although visible matter, the matter we can see and detect with our instruments comprises only 5% of the observable universe, it occupies nearly all of our attention. It appears that most... Continue

Larry Barnett: Scenes from A Marriage Act Two – Alchemy

Some elements are compatible, others incompatible. If in prolonged close contact with each other, when compatible there is stability; when incompatible, an electro-chemical, alchemical process caused by electron transfer between the two elements alters their structure and produces transformation. So too it is in marriage.... Continue

Larry Barnett: Growing Thinner

It’s a bit oxymoronic, “growing thinner.” We think of growth when something gets bigger, not smaller, but that’s what’s happening to me. I’m growing thinner. At 77 years old, I now weigh what I did as a Junior in High School, and then I considered... Continue

Larry Barnett: What If I’m the One Who’s Dead?

Here’s an odd contemplation: it was not my wife of fifty years who died last May, it was me. Perhaps a ghost of my consciousness has continued to spin out an experience of my reality, my Samsara, even though my body is now long gone.... Continue

Larry Barnett: Tales of Ordinary Madness

If the world feels crazy to you, you’re right. It is. A form of collective madness has taken hold. It’s worrisome, confusing, for some fatal, and, sadly, it’s mostly the way it’s always been. We live in the imaginary world of The-Mind-of-Separation, and it drives... Continue

Larry Barnett: I Married a Swan

Do you identify with any particular animal? If you were not a human being, what animal would you like to be? I’m a Bear, a Little Bear to be precise. I sleep like a log, am assertive, like to be in charge, and get right... Continue