Originally posted here Sep 15, 2025 [Charlie Angus] I heard the news about Charlie Kirk's assassination as I was deeply engrossed in Timothy Snyder's book The Road to Unfreedom. At the time, I was pondering Snyder's statement that "blood is the ink of political fiction." Snyder, an expert in the history of fascism, was warning... Continue Reading →
Don’t offer condolences. Act, stop Israel, and hold journalists’ murderers to account. Thank you Jim Hodgson Unwrapping Development for bringing this story to my attention. Eman Hillis, Gaza-based fact-checker, Al Jazeera A year ago, my dear friend and relative, journalist Amna Homaid, was brutally killed, along with her eldest child, Mahdi, 11. She was targeted... Continue Reading →
Anas al-Sharif with his daughter, Sham, and son, Salah. Photograph: Facebook ‘If these words reach you … Israel has succeeded in killing me’: the last words of a journalist killed in Gaza Anas al-Sharif, an Al Jazeera reporter, was killed along with four other journalists by an Israeli airstrike last Sunday night. This is the... Continue Reading →
Something totally different today. A test of memory for all my loyal readers, and those who arrive at this page by accident. (Lucky you.) An investigative challenge for those who enjoy the variety of personalities named in the over 680 posts viewed 103,000 times by over 64,000 visitors. This year, 2025, the volume of traffic... Continue Reading →
Eleanor Farjeon The story of the song Morning Has Broken With thanks to Nostalgic Memories Before Cat Stevens ever sang a note of it, Morning Has Broken was a quiet offering from a woman who saw the sacred in the ordinary. Eleanor Farjeon, born in 1881 London, grew up surrounded by music and poetry. Her... Continue Reading →
Bill Cunningham at work (and play) Two photographers, one living, one no longer with us, documenting our world, brilliantly. It has been some time since I have blogged on photography. It has been however one of my priorities since launching takenote.ca. Today however, I return to photography. Two recent news articles highlight the work of... Continue Reading →
UPDATE: No decision yet on some Western Canada concerts including West Kelowna. TYEE article here. Thanks friends from Summerland United Church for the share below. With the support and encouragment of "Christian" churches who should know better, steadily far right ideology is now creeping into Canadian public spaces. Kelowna, BC - Advocacy Canada is expressing... Continue Reading →
Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday placed restrictive conditions on the recognition of a Palestinian state, stressing the need to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the ongoing violations in the West Bank, while simultaneously rejecting any future Palestinian government that includes the Resistance movement Hamas,... Continue Reading →
A stylized black and white image of the U.S. Capitol building beneath cloud-dotted skies. Photo by Nicolas Raymond, Creative Commons licensed. SPOILER ALERT — Long, but worth a careful read. In the words of Gilbert and Sullivan: “Never, say never.” Reposted from The Tyee -- Crawford Kilian is a contributing editor of The Tyee. We... Continue Reading →
Amongst other gifts and duties, deacons preach in congregations as they connect us with the wider community In fact, no sermon at all today. As I now only preach on the first and third Sundays of each month today is truly a day of rest. Instead I share a reflection on sermons as an art... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 