Serving up reason from the North and logic from the South
It’s been far too long since I contributed some thoughts to this blog. Most of the reason has been due to my final push to get this new novel completed. It’s been two years in the making: One year of intense study and refresher of the subject matter at hand and another year to knit… Continue reading Full Disclosure; or, What I’d Rather Be Doing
“We have a choice. We have two options as human beings. We have a choice between conversation and war. That's it. Conversation and violence." - Sam Harris The evening of August 11, 2017, brought out a scene reminiscent of Triumph of the Will through the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, Virginia. A crowd of… Continue reading Ideas Need a Free Market
Throughout this healthcare debacle, the side wanting the government run, single payer option is trying to scare people by claiming the attempts to repeal Obamacare are attempts to kill you. Alarms are sounding with claims that the purpose is to eradicate the poor. They claim the purpose of repealing Obamacare is to benefit the rich.… Continue reading Show, Don’t Tell
You thinking what I’m thinking? Or better yet, you thinking what I concluded back in 1996? What exactly does the GOP stand for? Healthcare has been their issue throughout the Obama Administration. They attempted to repeal it sixty times while he was in office. Mostly this was a dog and pony because they knew… Continue reading Sods of Plastic
When everyone in the room is yelling, no one is heard. The 2016 American presidential election was particularly nasty. It brought out the worst in everyone participating in politics. Politics has always been a bitter business. But something seems excessively bitter as of late. I’m seeing more and more analysis regarding the lack of social… Continue reading Short Form Civilization
There are three subject matters that have consumed most of my time. The matters are, in order of interest, woo-woo, religion and politics. What they have in common is that they are the greatest fields of inquiry where you get to see human beings acting short of reason for the sake of the magical. They’re… Continue reading It’s Always Mr. Smith
Today I watched several fellow writers complain that the Trump Health Care Act (is that the official title?) is going to do severe damage to them as writers. In other words, they won't have as good of health care under it as they perceive under Obamacare. I am confused by this. How do they know?… Continue reading The Case for Listening Ears
This morning I awoke to a question from a member of a biblical study group I'm involved in. The person asked if any of us wrote books on biblical criticism, no matter how light-hearted, and if those of us who did, felt the need to use a pseudonym or used our real name. The person… Continue reading Normalizing Through Self Credit
About ten years ago I was having a conversation with a friend about climate change. (I think we called it global warming at that time). I concluded that if warming was happening by natural causes, there was nothing we could do about it. So humans would have to adapt through artificial means. If warming was… Continue reading The Black Blood of Modernity
It's no secret, I think all religion, being a practice on faith rather than reason, is a poor life style. However, current events demonstrate there is only one deserving special attention if not out right combat for hearts and minds. That is Islam. I've addressed my concerns here, here and here. And here. This short piece is a reminder in light of… Continue reading Islam: The Third and Troubling Child
Somewhere around the age of thirty-five, I realized I didn't know what was good in current music. I was, and continue to play, all the stuff that defined my niche as an eighties' kid. My preference was for what was then labeled, Alternative. But that definition didn't say much at all. Because all it really… Continue reading Smells Like Wean Spirit
On January 25, 2017, President Trump issued the executive order that authorized the construction of the Great Wall of America. Expected to run about the length of one-thousand-three-hundred miles, costing anywhere from sixteen to twenty-six billion dollars to build, seven-hundred-fifty-million a year to maintain and taking four or twenty years to build, * it looks… Continue reading The Great Drug War Wall
Through the Obama years, Democrats had no problem with his pen and phone approach. If he couldn't get it his way with GOP support, he was determined to go it alone. And while he was doing this, there was zero opposition from members of his team. But now that Trump is in power and the… Continue reading Take the Outsider Test
First things first, read the entire Executive Order. Then come back. I’ll wait. Done? No you’re not. Read it first please. * Flips through Cabela’s catalog, looks for fly-fishing classes * * Gets diverted to the muskets. Always wanted a musket * Done? You sure? Okay, here we go: The Executive Order PROTECTING THE NATION… Continue reading Executive Disorder
