The saying, “May you live in interesting times,” has often been attributed to Robert Kennedy, who referred to it as an “ancient Chinese curse.” The saying has an extensive history. (See “Quote Investigator” for details.) Regardless of the saying’s history, war, rumors of war, and civil unrest are more “interesting” than times of peace and prosperity. At present (April 2019), we have a lot of civil unrest, not only in the States, but also in many places around the world. We also have wars (and rumors of wars) in many parts of the world. In fact, we have pretty much . . . → Read More: Living in Interesting Times
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 Comments are closed  Blog  1984, Abel, ancient Chinese, Bible, Brave New World, Cain, China, Christian, Chrystal Blue Persuasion, civil unrest, conflict, crystal blue persuasion, curse, Eden, end-of-times, English, genetic manipulation, Great Wall of China, human aggression, Interesting Times, Irish, Korea, political factions, population growth, Robert Kennedy, rumors of war, Scotts, Shondells, Steven Pinker, Tommy James, Vietnam, Vietnam War, wars, WWII An English poet named William Butler Yates wrote the poem, The Second Coming, in 1919 not long after the First World War had come to an end. I was thinking about the current political situation in the U.S. when the poem bubbled up into my memory. Here’s the entire poem. As you read it, think not only about the chaos during and after the First World War, but also about our current politics: THE SECOND COMING Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the . . . → Read More: Slouching Toward Bethlehem Comments are closed Blog 1919, beast, Bethlehem, Book of Ezekiel, Charlottesville, Civil Rights, crystal blue persuasion, English, Europe, falcon, First World War, Hitler, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Carr, passionate intensity, poet, rock & roll, Second Coming, sexual misconduct, Spiritus Mundi, the more things change, The Second Coming, the States, Treaty of Versailles. Germany, US, Vietnam War, widening gyre, William Butler Yates, WWII My last blog post was about the so-called ancient Chinese curse of “living in interesting times.” All the problems I cited in that post are not only still with us, but also have been amplified. Donald Trump is now the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the US. Although the nominee for the Democrats has not been finally decided yet, Hilary Clinton is the likely candidate. Although I am still paying attention to US politics, I am doing so with an increasingly heavy heart. Even so, some other things have caught my attention, including website advertising, LGBT concerns and legislation, . . . → Read More: Paying Attention Comments are closed Blog ad blockers, advertising, Agent Orange, antibiotics, atmosphere, auto-start video, bathrooms, Big Ag, Big Pharma, carbon dioxide, Chinese Curse, Crusades, Democrats, Donald Trump, Dr. Sherry Tenpenny, English, fatal events, follow the money, French, George Santayana, history, Interesting Times, invasion, Jesus, LGBT, loss of vision or hearing, Mid-East, Old Testament, opioid epidemic, opioids, plastic in oceans, politics, Portuguese, prescriptions, profit, Republicans, sexual expression, sexual orientation, Sharia Law, Sixth Extinction, Spanish, the good Samaritan, transgender rights, vaccines, Vilfredo Pareto, white and colored, World War II On a cold and frosty late-December morning, when I lived in a previous neighborhood, I was out walking my dog. It was so long ago that in the years between then and now, not only has that dog died of old age, but my next two dogs have also died of old age. Even so, on that late-December morning I said something that still haunts me. A boy who lived in a nearby house, ran up to me holding up a new pair of gloves, saying excitedly, “See what I got! New gloves!” My reply: “They are really neat. Did . . . → Read More: What Did You Get for Christmas? Comments are closed Blog agnostic, ancestors, athiest, begats, Bible, Bible as metaphor, Big Enders, Buddhism, business communication, Cherokee, Christmas, Civil Rights, culture, English, ethnocentric, ethnocentrism, European invaders, fundamentalist, G.I. Bill, Georgia, go and sin no more, Hanukkah, heaven, Imagine, India, John Lennon, Jonathan Swift, King James, Little Enders, Midwest, Mother Theresa, National Day of Mourning, Native American, Norwegian, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, parents, Quaker, spiritual force, spirituality, the holidays, Trail of Tears, U.S. Army, Vietnam War, Western Michigan University, Western Tribes, WWII The question, “Are we there yet,” is a cliché of traveling with children. We expect adults, even those grown weary with traveling, to have a better understanding of how long it takes to get from Point A to Point B. This blog entry is about our collective journey from racism to a “postracial” culture. It was prompted by recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, following yet another police shooting of an unarmed black teenager. The policeman, as is usually the case, was white. One such shooting isn’t the real issue, of course. The problem is that this one was just one . . . → Read More: Are We There Yet? Comments are closed Blog are we there yet, Black Muslims, Brown v. Board of Education, Cherokee, College of Wooster, DNA, English, equality, ethnicity, Ferguson, Filipino, Hadrian, Hadrian's Wall, interracial dating, James Brown, Los Altos, Martin Luther King, Mexican, Missouri, Mt. View, Muhammed Speaks, Nashville, Norwegian, Palo Alto, Pict, Pitt, police, police shooting, post-racial, postracial, race, race riots, racial, racism, Roman Emperor, San Jose, Santa Clara, segregation, Stanford University, Sub-Sarahan Africa, Supreme Court, Swett's Restaurant, U.S. Army, University of Illinois, University of Redlands, Vietnam, Watts, white privilege, white separatist An old story whose origins are unknown to Google is about a relatively newlywed couple who wanted to divide chores evenly having weekly arguments about whose turn it was to mow the lawn. Other household tasks weren’t a problem. The husband had his responsibilities, the wife had hers, and each was comfortable with the assigned tasks with the exception of lawn mowing. They had agreed to take turns but had trouble tracking whose turn it was from week to week. After months of arguing about whose turn it was to mow the lawn, the wife blurted out, “In my family, . . . → Read More: In My Family… Comments are closed Blog air pollution, behavior, beliefs, Christel Nani, climate change, Copernicus, Crimea, disease, Elijah, English, Europe, family, fish, follow the money, following one's path, French, french fries, Galileo, global warming, hammer, heliocentric universe, homeopathic, Hundred Years War, income inequality, Joan of Arc, let there be peace on earth, medicine, nail, Nani, pizza, Pope, poverty, profit, remedies, right and wrong, river, Russa, Sacred Choices, school lunches, settled science, Shiites, States, still small voice, Sunnis, surgeons, surgery, tribes, Ukraine, vaccinations, vaccines, vegetables, war, warfare, water pollution, wealth You may be wondering what stubble’s got to do with it…. I had been wondering why so many men in current advertising, including the man deemed the “Sexiest Man Alive” by a popular magazine, are often photographed and filmed with three to five days of stubble. My curiosity got the better of me when I read an interview with a female actor who had just completed a movie about a same-sex relationship. When asked what she liked best about kissing another woman, she replied, “No stubble.” It turns out that stubble is women’s Number-One complaint about kissing men. It . . . → Read More: Stubble, Etc. Comments are closed Blog aphrodisiac, arras, bad boys, bare, Beowulf, bodkin, Calvin and Hobbs, change, Chaucer, clean-cut, collision, communication, delete, distort, English, fertility, generalize, Gloria Estefan, Hamlet, Henry Kissinger, hypnotherapist, impact, invitation, invite, language, Latin, lectern, mental image, Miami Sound Machine, Milton Erickson, nonverbal, nouning verbs, Old Greek, outlaw mystic, ovulation, partners, podium, politicians, power, reproduction, sex, sexual attraction, sexuality, Shakespeare, stubble, text, texting, transfer of meaning, TV, verbal, verbing nouns, Wild West |
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