“Because I don’t want to go to Space.” That’s how my wife answered the question. Of course getting her on a plane would prove a challenge, so there you go.
I cut my teeth on Star Trek – an optimistic view of the future where the military undergoes a conversion to a diplomatic corps. Sort of like how we’ve stalled on the Global War on Terror. (Getting rid of the term ‘Overseas Contingency Operations’ would be a good start if we want to regain our momentum). Continue reading
Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg, George III’s consort is generally credited with ordering the first Christmas Tree in England, making it enormously popular with the aristocracy of the time.
Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s consort, was not the first royal to bring Christmas trees to England, but he did bring them into fashion for the middle and lower classes. America, populated by anglophiles quickly followed suit.
The Medical Drama you’re watching today is the same one your parents watched. They same one. This isn’t to say that some aren’t interesting, or that they don’t have decent character development. If you’re a fan, I get it. But you’re watching the same show, and often enough, the same episode. Continue reading
Retirement – sounds so final, doesn’t it? You’re not getting there. Not the way you think. Or not the way you thought. Remember the days of company financed pensions? Yeah, neither do I.
March, 1945.
A war-ravaged continent, a bridge called Ludendorff, and a town called Remagen.
Die-hard patches of snow littered the ground here and there.
Months before, the German Wehrmacht launched a daring winter offensive, nearly negating the hard-fought Allied gains from the summer and fall.
The shelves are almost up. Really. One way or another this room is going to be completed by Thanksgiving. In the meantime, the de-humidifier is running nearly 24 hours a day down in the basement, otherwise the books will just sponge up the water in the air. Here are my picks from (I would like to say from my shelves but…) the bins and boxes in the basement going into the weekend. Other selections from my reading list can be found here. Continue reading
This election week has been a struggle for me. That’s unusual, because I don’t struggle with anything. I make a serious effort to remain centered around my God which by default means I am also centered around my principles. The sorting and ranking of my moral imperatives has been going on for fifty-plus years and by this time requires only the mildest of teaks now and then. While I have resolved the bulk of the conflicts between my principles, I occasionally face a divergence of principles. Usually, I can execute a solution swiftly and without drama. I know what’s under my control, and maintain peace with that which is not.
Donald Trump, President-elect.
This past week students advocating for segregation at the University of Berkley, CA attempted to block some of their fellow students from attending classes. You can read about it here. It occurred to me: at what point point does such intense focus on the trivial render a functioning society ineffective? Continue reading
“Hate” may be a strong word. Our children are often bored by what we find interesting. Most of us can relate. Like a feminist matron glumly watching a lovingly gifted special edition copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves sit on her daughter’s bookshelf year after year collecting dust, we often have to resign ourselves to our children’s individuality. Movies can provide a good barometer between generational differences. Continue reading
Islam requires reformation. This needs to be said, therefore let’s stop dancing around the issue. To my knowledge Hindus, Taoists, and Buddhists generally don’t strap on bombs, and they don’t seek out soft targets in the Western World. One could make a valid case that the humanistic cults of the 20th century far out-striped even the best efforts of the Islam in wrecking carnage on the world.
This even allows for the Islamic rampage across the North Africa during the 7th century. Islam needs to undergo a reformation of its own.
One Method Of Evangelism
The trail behind me is littered with failure. We’ll see about the trail before me.
