Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Sci-Fi Flight of Fantasy for Anyone Who Believes Reality is Fake News Somewhere in the Multi-Verse Oh man, you gotta see this!” said the young one in his native tongue. “See what?” his older friend said. “This new program I got! It is so freakin’ cool!” The friend turned a full circle, looking atContinue reading “The Simulator”

“Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning.” Gus Kahn, Lyricist, 1922 Sitting in a rocking chair painted Charleston Green, making it appear almost black, I am at peace. I am on my front porch, realizing why this architectual feature is so fundamental here in the South. It makes me wonderContinue reading “Carolina in the Morning”

Peter Jennings, I suspect, would be deeply saddened by what has happened to Beirut, in Lebanon. Peter, who passed away fifteen years ago this August month of 2020, was an expert in Middle East affairs. He was based in Beirut beginning in the late 1960’s at what was the first television news bureau in theContinue reading “Requiem for Beirut”

“Diversity doesn’t mean black and white only.” Henry Louis Gates, Historian “Life isn’t black and white. It’s a million gray areas.” Ridley Scott, Filmmaker If the title of this blog seems contradictory, it was meant to be. It is clear that nuance seems to be largely MIA in our polarized society today. If you areContinue reading “Nuance: It is as Plain as Black and White”

There is a famous line from the 1967 movie, Cool Hand Luke, which starred Paul Newman. The line is, “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.” What we’ve got in today’s world is not so much failure to communicate. What we’ve got is a superabudance in ways to communicate; a boundless magnitude of lightningContinue reading “Communication Overload”

It seems odd that in the war against what the President calls the “invisible enemy,” the coronavirus, we – as a nation – are being asked to come together by staying apart. It is understandable, but peculiar nevertheless. From what is reported, that is what we are doing, coming together with recognition that we allContinue reading “Coping with Coronavirus”

There is a war raging within many of us. We are facing a formidable and, yes, invisible foe – the Coronavirus. Not only is this enemy redoubtable, it is cunning and crafty. To help us understand the virus, Scientific American Magazine’s July issue takes a crack at laying it all out with impressive illustrations andContinue reading “The Covid War Within”

In the stressed-out, overheated vortex we are experiencing, ideas, opinions, real pain, anguish and meanings are often “lost or misconstrued,” as Paul Simon sang. Incendiary rhetoric serves to inflame thought and decompose understanding. The father and founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn, put it thusly: “There is a truth and beauty in rhetoric, but it oftenerContinue reading “Words Matter”

Most of us, it is fair to say, are horrified by what is happening to our country. The violence, the racism, the hatred, the lack of effective leadership have created an uproar that is consuming our daily lives. For many, it is extraordinarily upsetting. I heard a desperate mother cry out the other day. “HowContinue reading “Forward to the Past”

“Just imagine,” I heard a lady say the other day in a spate of soul-searching. “Just imagine what we can do for each other in eight minutes. Just imagine all the good we can do.” The eight minutes she spoke about, of course, were the length of time George Floyd lay face down on aContinue reading “8 Minutes”