After the attempted assassination of former President Trump, will there be renewed discussions around gun control? Gun violence researchers saying that there’s a contagion effect with every incident encouraging copy cats, little progress has been made.
Continue reading Guns and more Guns, Again – by Deborah Levine
originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press
On Memorial Day, we not only remember, but also honor those who gave their lives in service to our country. We grieve with their families whose loss will never be forgotten. I’m fortunate that my father survived his military service in World War II. But last week, I spoke to an Army veteran via Zoom whose new movie, The Keeper, taught me that suicide means Memorial Day includes more veterans than you think.
Continue reading ‘The Keeper’ A Keeper for Memorial Day – by Deborah Levine
Constance Hayes Matsumoto and Kent Matsumoto are authors of “Of White Ashes,” which is based on the true story of their Japanese American family during World War II.
Hear them discuss the inspiration for “Of White Ashes”.
originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press
It’s always a pleasure to attend community festivals that combine great fun with service to those in need. Over the weekend, I attended several of these events and I’ll be smiling over them for weeks. The first of these events was Derby Day on Saturday at the East Ridge Local Coffee. Derby Day was a fun way to support the East Ridge Needy Child Fund. This amazing organization does the important work of making sure that East Ridge children have shoes, clothes, toys and a food basket for the family.
Originally published in the Chattanooga Times Free Press
It was super exciting to be invited to the annual conference of Project Voice which has taken place in Chattanooga, home to the country’s fastest internet since 2016. Project Voice looks at artificial intelligence, but not the traditional artificial intelligence (AI) that analyzes historical data and makes future numeric predictions. Rather, the focus is on conversational and generative AI, terms I hadn’t heard until sitting in the conference. Conversational AI can hold two-way interactions with humans by understanding and responding in text or speech. Generative AI can take prompts and create all kinds of stuff that never existed before but are indistinguishable from human-generated content. I started to feel overwhelmed by this new information.
Continue reading Why get “interested” in Artificial Intelligence – by Deborah Levine
Robert LaRoche has been a musician since his teens in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He toured long and hard with The Sighs in support of their Nineties’ albums What Goes On and Different, and when their frontman elected to step out of the spotlight, he found a satisfying role, writing, recording, and performing with Patricia Vonne, whose pop-rock sound has Latin/country flavors. Ultimately, LaRoche’s own muse stirred anew and he released the aptly titled Patient Man in 2015 and its follow-up, A Thousand Shades, four years later.
Now, on Forevermore, he’s come full circle. There are sparkling, giddy moments and somber, poignant pieces. LaRoche explains: “Loss and gain, dark and light—it’s the basic human experience of redemption that I hope rings true to the listener.”
(originally published in the Chattanooga Times Free Press)
Wacky weather is our new norm. I called my daughter in Maine to tell her about how we went quickly from 80 degrees to below freezing. She said, “weird”, but it didn’t compare to what she’s going through. At first she called it a “spring snowstorm”, but as it got worse, she named it a “snowpocalpse”. She lost power, the trees in her yard were downed and despite having a monster truck, she barely made it home from work.
If there’s any doubt that climate change is a reality, pay attention to a recent headline in the Chattanooga Times Free Press that warned of “Brewing Storms” as alarmingly high ocean temperatures suggest a nasty hurricane season coming up. My friends in Bermuda are paying attention. The Bermuda Royal Gazette reports that waters in the Atlantic’s main hurricane development region had temperatures 65 % hotter at the end of January than the next closest year. Temperatures recorded in March aren’t usually seen until mid-July. So late summer should be a hurricane doozy with rapidly strengthening storms, even close to land.
Continue reading Praying for the Earth’s Healing – by Deborah Levine
George Eshleman is a veteran who inspired the upcoming film THE KEEPER which is based on his real-life experience hiking the Appalachian Trail while carrying 363 military name tapes from military members who committed suicide to raise awareness.
Hear George discuss:
CLICK for podcastMothers Day is a great American traditions, but I’m not sure I like it. Unhappily, I have a really big problem with these days because I don’t have the goods. My mother and grandmother who were such loving figures in my life are gone. My father, who I take after in so many ways, is gone, too. I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself. My children live far away but will no doubt call or send a card. I’m grateful for their love but I would really like to call my own parents. Just knowing they were around made life balanced and feel more secure.
Continue reading Mothers Day: Matriarch Training – by Deborah Levine
originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press
We live in a time of chaos and raging hate. How do we survive? The Arts can help and we should turn to them. My dad read poetry non-stop when serving as a US military intelligence officer during World War II. He said that’s how he kept his sanity dealing with the horrors of war. Dad summoned the Arts generations ago, when we moved reluctantly to American and us kids were heartbroken leaving Bermuda behind. He took us to art galleries and art museums and, fantastically, to a Broadway theater to see the musical, “West Side Story”. Wow! Maybe this America thing isn’t so bad!
Continue reading Broadway songs for our sanity – by Deborah Levine
