I came across the following article and link accidentally.  At the very least, it is provocative.  When secularism is in vogue, something will fill the place of the religious tenets that influenced the culture, i.e., Japan Shinto/Buddhism, India Hinduism/Buddhism, Europe Christianity, U.S. Christianity, etc.   Again, I am torn between laughing and crying.  If you have about 5 minutes, check out the clip of the celebration of the opening of the Gotthard Tunnel. One Helluva Guy! If you want to see the entire ceremony from which the clip referenced above was taken, check this link.  The dignitaries are pictured at 27:20″ and include some major … Continue reading Bizarre or Status Quo?

In a presidential  election year, we in the U.S. “obsess” over who might become the leader of our country, and often for very good reason.  On the other hand, we need look no further than the current elected officials of the Executive Branch to discover enlightening comments that arouse concern amongst allies: Gotta Love Him! Well in fairness, the remarks were made in  a campaign stump speech and no one really believes anything any kakistocrat says on the stump, unless it is about the other candidate. P.S.  You probably won’t see this reported in the U.S. media, or if so, in a buried … Continue reading An Example of U.S. Kakistocracy

To try and understand world events is not easy, requires some effort, and in this day and age, will likely still lead to a lack of consensus.  Still, gaining from perspective from the social media posts that add nothing but venom to any debate is a wise move, particularly if you care about formulating an opinion based on some correlation with facts however tenuous. I find this NHK report interesting, because among those not favoring a change in U.S. policy–not to use nuclear weapons as proposed recently by the President–are some of our closest allies including Japan and the United Kingdom.  Sitting … Continue reading Perspective Can Help

Peggy Noonan’s latest Wall Street Journal article (published 8/12/2016 first link below) attempts to explain what the world’s elites have done to those they rule.  She references Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and her stance on refugees, which brought 200,000 more than the 800,000 she had said her country would accept.  Ms. Noonan identifies a contradiction between an ideal and the reality, the latter of which Ms. Merkel will likely never have to visit first hand except for a CDU party photo shoot. At the same time, I recall that nearly five years ago, Chancellor Merkel repudiated multiculturalism as a … Continue reading Merkel and Multiculturalism

I am not sure whether I am more appalled by the horrible grammar in the text messages of students at one of the foremost colleges in the U.S., or the reasoning.  I would think that the curriculum would be a more crucial issue in the minds of the students.  Either way, our future is rather bleak, although one respondent stood up to the absurdity of the students seeking to room with only POC. Claremont Colleges Woes Continue reading The shoe on a different foot? Or is it just a comfortable scandal?

Reasonable Accommodation Reading this AP release is informative, however only so far.  Perhaps just one of the elephant’s legs has been identified.  Yet there is looming litigation as the spirit versus the letter of the law is taxed anew. To me, the legal issues involved here seem to be based on whether the ExpressJet Flight Attendant was a Muslim at the time of her assuming the role as a Flight Attendant. If she was a Muslim at the time of hire, she appears to be refusing to perform a critical part of her job function and the role of a Flight Attendant in the … Continue reading Legal Challenges

Mass at Urakami Cathedral A Roman Catholic Mass at the rebuilt Urakami Cathedral, which was and is now located not far from “ground zero”.  I had occasion to visit the site in the Winter of 2006. Continue reading Nagasaki, Japan

Since both political conventions here in the United States have ended, I return to Wagner to find suitable references to the ending of each.  Here are two:  The first from, the entrance into Valhalla from the final scene of Das Rheingold.  The second, the famous immolation scene from Götterdämmerung which marks the end of the tetralogy and even more importantly of the world, to be redeemed through love.   While you might think it is easy to assign one or the other to either party, based on the sex of the singer, I must remind you that now in public schools in California and elsewhere, gender … Continue reading When the horizontally gifted woman (aka fat lady) singing may not be enough….

A new word to me, thanks to Peggy Noonan’s latest article. It is one that seems very appropriate for the times, although it could have been applied for quite some time: kak·is·toc·ra·cies. kakistocracies: Government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens. Origin of kakistocracy. Greek kakistos, worst, superlative of kakos, bad; see caco– + –cracy. Continue reading Kakistocracies