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Excerpt from What’s Wrong with the World  GK Chesterton, 1910 This excerpt was published in the fabulous Lapham’s Quarterly, Winter, 2017 But of all the modern notions generated by mere wealth the worst is this: the notion that domesticity is dull and tame. Inside the home (they say) is dead decorum and routine; outside is… Continue reading Home

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Lost

For some reason I have been thinking how I miss the Occupy Wall Street movement. They had trenchant humor and righteous indignation And terrific graphics And where are the movies? Where is the romantic comedy about the two people pictured above? Where is Shia LaBeouf as the cynical police sergeant awakening to what’s really going… Continue reading Lost

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Existentialism

Speaking of ingenious knaves, fraudulent, avaricious, and altogether of bad character, whose whole house is in as bad repute as he himself, here is a clip from what I think is Woody Allen’s best movie. The last line of the alien is as good a summary of Camus’ position in  “The Myth of Sisyphus” as… Continue reading Existentialism

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Sisyphus had it coming

  Sisyphus is the inspiration for many New Yorker cartoons, here is my favorite. He is also the star of Albert Camus most Important Work, in my opinion, “The Myth of Sisyphus” . This book inspired my personal strategy for not going nuts. “One must imagine Sisyphus happy” said Camus. So, I want to think… Continue reading Sisyphus had it coming

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Ephemera

These Are The Guys Who Are Kicking Our Ass?’ : Planet Money : NPR This was posted on Planet Money blog about 5 years ago. I still have the parcel, unopened. After nine years, the ink is starting to fade.

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Bashkent

Letter: The ‘Best’ Hospital In Turkey : Planet Money : NPR. This is a letter that was published on Planet  Money blog. I wrote it in 2009, on our first trip to Turkey, just as the debate was heating up as to whether the US can afford to take care of its citizens as well… Continue reading Bashkent

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Ephesus

This was the largest theater in Ionia, the part of ancient Greece that was in Turkey.  Paul the apostle had a gig here that did not go well.As a change of pace, Paul was chased out of town by an angry mob of pagans rather than of Jews. It seems he violated the precept set… Continue reading Ephesus

Frank Underwood is Richard III

This is cut and pasted from this site, entire post highly recommended http://www.shmoop.com/richard-iii/richard-iii.html The Villain We Love to HateWatching Shakespeare’s character lie, manipulate, and murder his way to the English throne is a lot like watching the Grinch steal Christmas or Sue Sylvester humiliate the Glee Club: we know we’re witnessing the actions of an… Continue reading Frank Underwood is Richard III

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Acts

I’ve been reading Acts of the Apostles. I read somewhere that this is the only source on the first 50 or so years of the Jesus Movement. I use that term because the book itself marks the time and spot where the term “Christian” was coined. Antioch or Corinth, I forget. One thing I notice… Continue reading Acts

Gerald Emil Kosh

This is a true footnote character from history. I’m reading google news and there is a story about a potential war between China and other countries over ownership of the ecologically sensitive, oil-rich South China Sea and it mentions a battle between South Vietnam and China in 1974, just after the US had cut and… Continue reading Gerald Emil Kosh

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