To go to someone’s funeral and speak solely in generalities about the sadness of death, without mention of the person who died or condolences to the family would be completely out of place. Yet that’s what often happens when we experience an act of violence motivated by hate.

Thanks to the VT Council on World Affairs and the Open World Leadership Program , we just hosted two young women who are journalists in Yaroslava, Russia. And I’m struck by how similar the challenges they face are to our own.

In only a few moments, the Tree of Life synagogue had become the synagogue of death by the hand of one gun wielding anti-semite. This was the most horrendous attack against American Jews in our history. And non-Jewish communities around the country, including Burlington, grieved with their Jewish neighbors and friends.

I think of the confluence of entertainment and politics as dating back to the 1980s at least, with the election of former actor Ronald Reagan – setting the stage for today with a president who starred in the reality TV show, The Apprentice before playing that same role (tough businessman/great deal-maker) on the national stage.

As we approach Election Day, the rhetoric in most of America has become overheated. Civility has succumbed to hostility, and we’ve even seen people with extreme views resort to guns and bombs.

This time of year, when the leaves have mostly gone from the maples, reminds me of the first paragraph of Moby Dick .

Today is Halloween, and also the first day of the “Dia de Muertos” or “Day of the Dead Festival,” a Mexican holiday with Catholic and Aztec roots that’s gaining popularity here as the result of the increasing numbers of Hispanic friends and neighbors, and the release of Disney’s film Coco last year.

When it comes to this year’s Vermont Governor’s race, I’m among those voters who still can’t decide between the two major party candidates.

I’ve been talking to some people who didn’t vote in the 2016 election. One young man summed up his disinterest by saying he didn’t feel the two party system represented him. Neither candidate thrilled him, so he boycotted the election.

For days the news has been full of footage in which long columns of migrants, thousands of displaced people, surge forward, looking for asylum, seeking safety.