barbwoolard | Barb Woolard | Activity https://barbwoolard.com/members/bwg1462yahoo-com/activity/ Activity feed for Barb Woolard. Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:08:31 -0400 https://buddypress.org/?v= en-US 30 hourly 2 3f0bb3064dfabc1c0816fb0d13772db7 Barb Woolard changed their profile picture https://barbwoolard.com/activity/p/201/ Sat, 07 Mar 2026 01:44:36 -0500 0 0eb24c51752acecb54773b9a49086fe0 Barb Woolard wrote a new post https://barbwoolard.com/?p=1428 Sun, 10 Sep 2023 04:26:14 -0400 Presumed InnocentA very high-profile […] “Presumed Innocent”

]]> d5697972e08a375ecf45b3b5cd62116f Barb Woolard's profile was updated https://barbwoolard.com/activity/p/199/ Sun, 10 Sep 2023 04:23:43 -0400 0 a2b6d9fb040de88716d817af9a0d516c Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1356 Wed, 01 Sep 2021 23:04:44 -0400 Pure Religion and Undefiled by Barb […] “Pure Religion and Undefiled”

]]> 93f0dd4119b4435a4c97b5f197bfe30d Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1352 Thu, 26 Aug 2021 21:13:18 -0400 There’s an old morality tale which has recently made the rounds as a meme on social media. You’ve probably read or heard some version of it, but to refresh your memory, it goes like this:

A fellow was stu […]

]]> f03415366d3eff2f1d72272732ee8591 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1346 Tue, 27 Jul 2021 20:22:42 -0400 Sorry to be so crass, but this is a crisis. COVID numbers are once again on the rise, just as we thought we were heading back toward some version of normal life. July has been a bad month for the virus, leaving […]

]]> 4a5593d6f87bcfd1edd541485bac6d41 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1341 Sat, 17 Jul 2021 20:38:06 -0400 Nothing will turn this typically calm, mild-mannered grandma into a raging lunatic faster than knowing I’ve been lied to. I told my children often, when they were still in my home, that their lives would be far m […]

]]> 2a6c5e8dc695562f92b9dc1be91dbdb3 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1338 Thu, 17 Jun 2021 23:20:20 -0400 Arthur Miller’s iconic character Willy Loman, in the play Death of a Salesman, lives out before the audience the last 24 hours of his unraveling life–a life that has been filled with disappointment and u […]

]]> 9a5163f7e29b67ca61c132424f35fddb Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1333 Sat, 12 Jun 2021 22:40:34 -0400 “United we stand, divided we fall” is a saying which dates back to Aesop’s fables and which is often reiterated in times when national security seems most fragile. Patrick Henry used it in one of his last publi […]

]]> f2580e6b45e862cfa1055cc203623dd5 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1309 Sun, 14 Mar 2021 00:38:21 -0500 Among the more unsettling images now the icons of January 6 are those in which the Capitol attackers display symbols representing the Christian faith: signs and flags with such slogans as “Make America Godly A […]

]]> 6425936377c40048879d0c949b253cc1 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1306 Fri, 12 Feb 2021 00:52:59 -0500 Both Sides: the Dangers of Neutrality[…] “Both Sides: the Dangers of Neutrality”

]]> 45cacd292e2daf59ef3f53224b815215 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1296 Fri, 05 Feb 2021 01:09:37 -0500 Words matter. Take the word “burger,” for instance. That word generally means a patty of ground beef, served in a bun, with some variety of toppings and/or condiments. The burger I order at McDonald’s will look […]

]]> 5c55590399b611c63e3782f30a8e5360 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1287 Sun, 27 Dec 2020 05:47:56 -0500 Around 25 years ago, my then-husband and I hosted a gathering one evening at our home. We invited several other couples with whom we spent three or four hours eating, talking, and laughing until we cried. As the […]

]]> 9e8015efb30d663f8f7880ba9546ffd1 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1277 Sun, 08 Nov 2020 20:21:34 -0500 The long night is almost over, we have awakened from the terrifying nightmare, we have released a loud collective exhale. When I lie dying, on some far-off day, I will remember the scenes etched into my […]

]]> 867a9b9243448d5722107122590de585 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1263 Tue, 27 Oct 2020 21:32:41 -0400 During my sons’ tween-age years, Pee-Wee Herman, a character played by actor Paul Reubens, was frequently on the screen in our house; so my sons adopted Pee-Wee’s favorite retort to an insult: “I know you are, […]

]]> 72e9ddd7057f82be8cb3e61c7bc93797 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1258 Wed, 14 Oct 2020 03:08:34 -0400 The recent chatter about Donald Trump’s declining mental state and increasingly erratic behavior has me thinking of the legend of Faust. Isn’t everyone? In the classic German legend, an eminent scholar, Fau […]

]]> 4635a7dc973347340554c4f4e33b4a88 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1252 Tue, 06 Oct 2020 17:14:43 -0400 It was a grand spectacle. It could have been staged by a Hollywood producer. The helicopter landed on the lawn near the majestic staircase, the COVID patient emerged dressed elegantly in a suit and tie, he […]

]]> edaec75f223e38fa3caac22729d17833 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1247 Thu, 01 Oct 2020 03:35:00 -0400 Have you ever been in a situation when someone was being a real jerk to you, and you tried to  engage calmly and reasonably in a conversation with that person? Then a third person came along and said, “Okay, yo […]

]]> 21642eaab010a16bceb1f8cfee8e9b17 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1231 Wed, 23 Sep 2020 04:55:58 -0400 This weekend, as I mourned along with the rest of the world Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing, I watched the movie “On the Basis of Sex.” Twice. Grieving the loss of this intelligent, passionate, and a […]

]]> 764d596b968a9d53b2adc545d287a545 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1228 Wed, 16 Sep 2020 16:53:01 -0400 I’ve done my share of grumbling about the postal service. There was the mail carrier at my long-time home in Florida who consistently put my mail in neighbors’ boxes and neighbors’ mail in my box or occas […]

]]> eaca088da8ec5b846e0dca08ee74fba6 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1225 Sun, 13 Sep 2020 15:24:35 -0400 If you’re reading this article in 2020, you will notice that many of the specific facts are outdated: Hillary Clinton as Donald Trump’s political opponent, the disgraced Jerry Falwell Jr. as a leader respected […]

]]> 3bf39c4796ee9f511be4dfd1944d4497 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1223 Sun, 13 Sep 2020 15:07:45 -0400 One of the most baffling, perplexing, even maddening
questions of our time is how the “Christian right,” “the far right,” “the
evangelicals” have become such a powerful political force and how on earth that […]

]]> b4add4ff80fd89e8f9550041e36c4d0c Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1221 Sun, 13 Sep 2020 15:04:21 -0400 Everyone is familiar with the words of that immortal philosopher Forrest Gump: “Stupid is as stupid does.” My mother had a similar saying which she used any time she felt we were placing too much emphasis on try […]

]]> 81599c813f08286767bb1fce0dac64e1 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1216 Fri, 11 Sep 2020 15:11:54 -0400 I grew up in the age of folksy sayings; there was a catchy aphorism for just about anything a child could think of. A couple of my mother’s favorites were “Pretty is as pretty does” and “God helps those who hel […]

]]> 635518aeb5c844bade9b764b170e62c5 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1213 Thu, 10 Sep 2020 14:35:04 -0400 Many years ago, home alone on a Saturday morning and in search of entertainment, I  came across a movie called Capricorn One, about an elaborate hoax to fake a Mars landing. Kidnapped flight crew, secret sound […]

]]> f25136284fb152044a32cd143d7f8202 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1209 Wed, 09 Sep 2020 14:21:13 -0400 Listening to the current national conversation, one might believe our only two options for managing a public health crisis are either to follow the advice of medical experts or to “pray about it.” Aside from the […]

]]> c5bc141734b50329914fa7fde550aad6 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1176 Tue, 08 Sep 2020 00:33:02 -0400 I’ve been forced to ask myself this question in recent months because what I have assumed should be too glaringly obvious to require explanation is clearly not obvious to about 42 percent of my fellow citizens. T […]

]]> ec295227fff150bb3db8587c0ca59f11 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1171 Thu, 27 Aug 2020 04:10:46 -0400 I’ve done my share of grumbling about the postal service. There was the mail carrier at my long-time home in Florida who consistently put my mail in neighbors’ boxes and neighbors’ mail in my box or occas […]

]]> db6f1683fda99e8b463533f5d5c36dc3 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1163 Fri, 21 Aug 2020 23:25:49 -0400 Many years ago, home alone on a Saturday morning and in search of entertainment, I  came across a movie called Capricorn One, about an elaborate hoax to fake a Mars landing. Kidnapped flight crew, secret sound […]

]]> e4ed65c732b00d656653f3e4ce247681 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1158 Wed, 12 Aug 2020 19:14:55 -0400 Someone recently asked me why the United States leads the world in coronavirus infections and deaths yet comes in last for implementing effective measures to control and eliminate the virus and get our lives back […]

]]> 4e6c1573d53394d87f282053249aee9a Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1152 Sat, 08 Aug 2020 00:11:59 -0400 In case you may have been vacationing on Mars these last few months and haven’t quite caught up on the news here at home, we’re in the midst of a pandemic and the United States of America is losing badly in its […]

]]> 7372c8bfcd6615136857427aaabb8ead Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1149 Sat, 01 Aug 2020 18:43:46 -0400 I grew up in the age of folksy sayings; there was a catchy aphorism for just about anything a child could think of. A couple of my mother’s favorites were “Pretty is as pretty does” and “God helps those who hel […]

]]> bfe344ea360afb1b0d2af2476bb8d8e4 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1139 Thu, 09 Jul 2020 22:26:58 -0400 Listening to the current national conversation, one might believe our only two options for managing a public health crisis are either to follow the advice of medical experts or to “pray about it.” Aside from the […]

]]> 3e4b0a53c537114a20ec2ac9c6dd61cf Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1133 Mon, 06 Jul 2020 18:12:59 -0400 Americans love to talk and sing about their freedom. Two days ago, we indulged in our annual orgy of wearing red-white-blue outfits, shooting off fireworks, and smugly proclaiming “’Merica!” Amid all of the hype, […]

]]> 31486415912719f8d1e7c4cd5a68b275 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1126 Tue, 09 Jun 2020 21:51:32 -0400 I just read this quote from Maya Angelou: “I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better I do better.”

Sometimes understanding a subject is a long process and requires experience beyond one’s own n […]

]]> 6c0a4cf087c474036615a97ab83caf2a Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1106 Tue, 17 Sep 2019 20:56:40 -0400 Did you ever have a monster living under your bed? Lots of people have had them. No one ever saw, heard, or smelled your monster; yet you were as convinced of its existence and the imminent danger it posed as if […]

]]> 9f7674a7a19426076f8bd2fe851f917c Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1092 Wed, 04 Sep 2019 19:27:23 -0400 What this country sorely lacks right now is moral absolutes. We’re long on opinions but short on facts, long on rants but short on reason, long on talk but short on action. Until we challenge the idea that e […]

]]> 67d983997c97ff2246165cc8b2fc4f37 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1081 Mon, 19 Aug 2019 18:00:39 -0400 On August 20, 1619–400 years ago tomorrow–a ship named the White Lion docked at Point Comfort, Virginia, and began selling its cargo to the some 700 settlers who then inhabited the British colony of Jamestown. […]

]]> a51787bb01d64fe0e1c4e4c7c44fc0dc Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1072 Sat, 10 Aug 2019 23:29:44 -0400 They were newlyweds, having just marked their first wedding anniversary. They had an almost six-year-old daughter, a one-year-old daughter, and a two-month-old son; they were just 23 and 24 years old. They […]

]]> f0a357fc1ef42656d7d1c8641ef8d724 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1063 Tue, 23 Jul 2019 16:04:56 -0400 Everyone is familiar with the words of that immortal philosopher Forrest Gump: “Stupid is as stupid does.” My mother had a similar saying which she used any time she felt we were placing too much emphasis on try […]

]]> 3faca8cb8b062daf714de2c4938de84d Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1052 Tue, 25 Jun 2019 22:35:28 -0400 One of the most baffling, perplexing, even maddening
questions of our time is how the “Christian right,” “the far right,” “the
evangelicals” have become such a powerful political force and how on earth that […]

]]> 202a6e1d400455be34aa5fc224062efe Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1047 Tue, 11 Jun 2019 17:27:03 -0400 You’ve heard the expression: “Better the devil you know than
the devil you don’t know.” It’s meant to explain why people choose to remain in
uncomfortable, even dangerous, situations rather than free themselve […]

]]> 30e58678951c7fc2d37007c3cbcef514 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1030 Sat, 08 Jun 2019 17:42:38 -0400 Located on
the edge of the Florida Everglades, Collier County is home to a diverse demographic,
including Naples business people, Immokalee farm workers, and Seminole Native
Americans who were forced to move […]

]]> 050daa00b818e6da0089f72c91e657b8 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1025 Tue, 21 May 2019 15:44:32 -0400 In 2019, eight states have passed new restrictive abortion
laws, most notoriously Georgia and Alabama. Alabama’s law would, if allowed to
go into effect, ban nearly all abortions, with no exceptions for rape, i […]

]]> 41bb93681eecb6fa11e12d687d3fa54e Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1017 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 19:59:36 -0400 A female member of my family, troubled that her boss had made an unwelcome pass at her, once confided the experience to one of our aunts. The aunt’s response was “Honey, in my day, we considered that a com […]

]]> 90c03cc9ec3de36bc9d7d2c676d91727 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=1009 Wed, 20 Mar 2019 18:40:51 -0400 On Thursday morning, I awoke to the anniversary of the day I
was born. It was not one of the much-discussed “zero birthdays,” but one
nonetheless that gives one pause to reflect on one’s mortality and where […]

]]> 0049685cc974bf922b869499b1d39250 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=998 Mon, 04 Mar 2019 00:41:46 -0500 Shakespeare’s Juliet raises the question in the
often-mislabeled “balcony scene” (there is actually no balcony, just a window).
A little earlier, she is spotted by Romeo across a crowded room at her famil […]

]]> dd77bfb85c7753fab6ecccc6f0407f02 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=986 Tue, 05 Feb 2019 14:39:06 -0500 I live in Fort Myers, Florida. On May 23, 2001, our local
newspaper reported that a senior at Estero High School had been found to have a
steak knife on the passenger-side floor board of her car while the car […]

]]> a1fcb47aaad3ac94d4ae13d1dbd6b6e2 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=981 Fri, 18 Jan 2019 19:28:04 -0500 Barry Goldwater said this in November 1994:

“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control
of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a
terrible damn problem. F […]

]]> 012efda4288840cd4b8e0abbc51c0963 Barb Woolard wrote a new post http://barbgriffith.com/?p=970 Fri, 02 Nov 2018 18:05:47 -0400 Sadeek, our first three days’ tour guide, said it. Tony, the spice shop owner, said it with pleading eyes as he carefully sealed our bags of fragrant lavender. Ali, our guide through Old Jerusalem, said it as we s […]

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