Genres
We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane. Kilgore Trout -Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions, Ch 1.
We always imagine eternity as something beyond our conception, something vast, vast! But why must it be vast? -Fyodor DostoevskyApocalyptic politics
Donald Trump's latest international provocation, the decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, marches Trump-backing evangelicals a step closer to their deeply held desire for the fulfillment of Biblical end-times prophecies. A recent CNN article by Diana Bass suggests that, for many evangelicals, Jerusalem is about prophecy, not politics. I would partially agree: It is about prophecy, but it is also explicitly about politics.
Book review, Title A New History Of Early Christianity, Author Charles Freeman, Rating 3.5,
A New History Of Early Christianity
Charles Freeman
Book review
The gestation of Christianity
This is a very readable historical treatment of the early gestation of Christianity. The approach is explicitly historical rather than theological, allowing the author to examine the early documents and archeology in light of the culture and politics of the early Christian writers. In particular the diverse perspectives and the many contradictions found in their writings can make more sense when considering wider historical influences, such as the region the writer came from, the language(s) they spoke and didn't speak, whether they were Jewish or Gentile, their position in society, and so on.
Book review, Title Why Evolution Is True, Author Jerry A. Coyne, Rating 3.5,
Why Evolution Is True
Jerry A. Coyne
Book review
Evolution and Truth
This book has been hailed by some as a clear-eyed exposition of modern evolutionary biology. I found it strong on the science, and disappointingly weak on the intellectual discipline.
With liberty and justice for all
Is kneeling during the playing of the national anthem unpatriotic? I served my country, and honor those with whom I served and those who have fallen in service of our country. I also acknowledge those who have fallen at the hands of a police officer during a traffic stop. It is not an either/or proposition. Love of country for me includes looking critically at things that need to be changed.
Book review, Title The Ministry of Special Cases, Author Nathan Englander, Rating 4.0,
The Ministry of Special Cases
Nathan Englander
Book review
Kafka comes to Argentina
In The Ministry of Special Cases Nathan Englander tells a story of the Dirty War of Argentina as if in the guise of Isaac Bashevis Singer. The tale is steeped in irony, told through the eyes of a Jew, Kaddish Pozsnan, even outcast from the Jewish community of Buenos Aires.
Family.
I shall to sleep
I shall to sleep while you are yet dancing
over the endless tile,
sliding, eliding in hectic half-measures,
amid the fractious bile.I shall to sleep while you are rejoicing,
savoring sweet ecstacy,
enchantment, affection, brief understanding,
moments of found harmony.Movie Review, Title Five Easy Pieces, Studio Columbia TriStar, Rating 3.0,
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Director: Bob Rafelson
Movie Review
Is truculence alienation?
The movie Five Easy Pieces was all the rage when it was made, a tale of alienation in a time when many fancied themselves agents of great change, so I decided to finally watch the whole thing, having only seen the famous chicken sandwich scene. Jack Nicholson's performance was excellent. The film, alas, for me, was too psychologically brutal to enjoy, and left me wondering what the point was.
Book review, Title Shut Up, Legs!, Author Jens Voigt, James D. Startt, Rating 3.0,
Shut Up, Legs!
Jens Voigt, James D. Startt
Book review
Shut Up, Legs!
Jens Voigt was a wonderful cyclist to watch in the Tour de France. He was an aggressive rider, willing to attack in breakaways with few odds of success, friendly and available before and after a race. His motto, 'Shut Up, Legs!,' can be appreciated by anyone who rides bicycles long distance, or any endurance athlete for that matter: Muscular pain from exertion must be ignored in the pursuit of endurance feats.
Book review, Title The Laws of Medicine, Author Siddhartha Mukherjee, Rating 3.5,
The Laws of Medicine
Siddhartha Mukherjee
Book review
Are there Laws of Medicine?
Modern medicine began embracing scientific methods during the last couple of centuries, and in the past one hundred years this has produced an explosion of medical technologies that have aided physicians in significantly controlling some diseases and in particular, extending lives. Today in developed countries, many tests are available for diagnosis and many drugs are available for possible treatment. So why can't physicians today just run a comprehensive battery of tests for every sick patient and spit out a clear diagnosis, and with that, a clear prognosis and plan for a cure? Siddhartha Mukherjee proffers an answer via his Laws of Medicine.
Book review, Title Along the Way, Author Britt Towery, Rating 4.0,
Along the Way
Britt Towery
Book review
Along the Way with Britt Towery
Britt Towery is a very American thinker, who's opinion columns from a West Texas newspaper are collected here. I warmed quickly to his direct and sometimes folksy Texas style. He holds strong opinions on many subjects, but has a particular emphasis regarding the importance of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which safeguards our freedom of speech and religion.
Citizenship: Making sense of hysteria
With the never-ending wave of hysteria being promulgated daily in the news media and on the internet, how do we make sense of it all? How do we deflect the emotional pull of anger, greed and hate, all cousins of fear, that are often brought to us by those who wish to drown our better selves in the worst emotions, so as to persuade us to think or act in some certain way? How do we find a way to think and act responsibly when our politicians, pundits, preachers, programs and parents promote their agendas, at times with little regard for truth or ethics or morality, while with the deepest cynicism, couching their points of view in the language of truth and ethics and morality?
American Soul
Aretha Franklin recently sang at the Kennedy Center Honors tribute to Carole King, reprising the song Carole wrote for her, A Natural Woman. The performance was glorious, and drew tears from the President, as well as from myself as I watched and listened to it later on video. Obama said of Aretha afterwords: 'Nobody embodies more fully the connection between the African-American spiritual, the blues, R. & B., rock and roll—the way that hardship and sorrow were transformed into something full of beauty and vitality and hope. American history wells up when Aretha sings.'Crude, Rude, and Impolite
Today's Republican Party, in choosing a clearly unqualified candidate for the presidency, in choosing to wallow in the deepest trough of political mud in my memory, in choosing to embrace the grossest of lies and the most laughable of conspiracies, in choosing to generate fear and hatred instead of exercising civilized, reasoned judgment, has embraced my 5th grade teacher's admonishment for a ten year old's bad behavior: "Crude, rude and impolite".
Oregon Scribbler.
The Law of Political Scruples
In the world of politics, the degree to which scruples are exercised is in inverse proportion to the degree to which moral rectitude is claimed.
What could be more fun than to use some dry mathematical humor to add some refinement to this political epigram? And so is born the Law of Political Scruples.Book review, Title The Naturalist, Author Andrew Mayne, Rating 2.0,
The Naturalist
Andrew Mayne
Book review
The Naturalist
The concept of this book was intriguing to me: a scientist, a practicing field biologist, applies his knowledge of biology and physics, and uses his analytical training to solve crimes. This worked quite well in the clever application of some of the science, and the author showed some wit in his observations. However, the overall plot went from unlikely, the usual for a suspense story, to ludicrous. What a real disappointment.
Looking back at O. J.
After viewing the mini-series O.J.: Made in America, Ta-Nehisi Coates looks back twenty two years and finds that as a young black college student he missed what most outraged white people missed: Many in the black community celebrated O. J.'s escape from a brutal justice system that they lived with every day.Is Cuba an exemplar of U. S. foreign policy?
President Obama's Cuban plan started the process of normalizing relations between the U.S. and Cuba. President Obama's Cuban policy has components found in other of his administration's foreign policy efforts: To fix the present by symbolic attempts to mend the past. They are marked by a recognition that: incremental and indirect change can be just as important as more obviously interventionist moves can be; change in other parts of the world is usually shaped more by internal efforts and perceptions than external; dialog with other countries is a vital part of exerting influence on change outside our borders.
Political epigrams
In the world of politics, the degree to which scruples are exercised is in inverse proportion to the degree to which moral rectitude is claimed.
Political ideologies, or ideologies wielded in the service of politics, share the property that they can erase any reality that contradicts them.
(1). See also The Law of Political Scruples.Book review, Title The Martian, Author Andy Weir, Rating 4.0,
The Martian
Andy Weir
Book review
Marooned on Mars
This 21st century Robinson Crusoe tale works because the lone marooned astronaut's effort at survival on Mars is framed around the question: how would a dogged, highly knowledgeable engineer solve the existential crises that cropped up and live yet another day?
Book review, Title Spandau: The Secret Diaries, Author Albert Speer, Rating 4.0,
Spandau: The Secret Diaries
Albert Speer
Book review
The smartest Nazi
Albert Speer, Hitler's personal architect and Reich Armaments Minister, kept a diary while he was in Spandau prison following his conviction at the post-war Nuremburg trials. These diaries provide a fascinating, hooded glimpse of the 'smartest man' in the Nazi leadership. At least, smart enough to evade the death penalty at the Nuremberg Trials.
There is "spin", and there is bearing false witness
One of the most difficult things for me is to watch politicians, governments, corporations, and organizations of all stripes, tell lies in order to persuade their intended audience to support them. This is clearly a naive reaction on my part: Why be perpetually bothered afresh by something that is pervasive and nearly universal? After all, "everybody cheats", and the most important thing for these entities is that they survive, they prevail, or that their influence waxes rather than wanes, not that they do the "right thing". To this question I have no pragmatic answer, except to say that I believe that honesty has more potential to make people and organizations successful, to make the world that more loving place called for by the major religions, than does the selfish manipulation that is the lie. The lie all too often gets you what you want, but at what cost to others, and at what cost to yourself?Book review, Title In the Woods, Author Tana French, Rating 3.5,
In the Woods
Tana French
Book review
Stuck at twelve
Rather than mainly a rational whodunit, Tana French's In the Woods is a psychological drama, an intricate set of well-executed character studies embedded in the story of a police investigation into a child murder.
Napoleon
Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts. My early view of Napoleon was as a cartoon figure: A megalomaniac who tried to take over the world. I recall looking down at Napoleon's tomb in Paris in the company of my brother Craig, the two of us mocking his immense sarcophagus and elaborate surroundings, wondering aloud why the French would semi-deify such a bloody tyrant. The typical American republican conceits aside, we were woefully uninformed about much of the life of Napoleon. Large Scale Genomics in Beijing
Beijing Genomics Institute, BGI, situated in Shenzhen, on the border between Guangdong and Hong Kong, claims the title of the world's biggest Genomics institute. Their president Jian Wang said, 'For the last 500 years, you (the West) have been leading the way with innovation. We are no longer interested in following.' The scale of their sequencing capability is large, as are their goals: to crack hunger, illness, evolution - and the genetics of human intelligence.Is the Lost Cause finally getting lost?
In a response to the recent furor over the Confederate flag and its removal from public grounds, Kevin Drum just nails it:
"Are we still arguing about whether the Civil War was really fought over slavery? Seriously? What's next? The Holocaust was really about Jews overstaying their tourist visas? The Inquisition was a scientific exploration of the limits of the human body? The Romans were genuinely curious about whether a man could kill a hungry lion? The Bataan death march was a controlled trial of different brands of army boots?"
Family.
At play with Uncle Ron
Ron Wiebe, my Uncle Ron, my Dad's youngest brother, died recently. I will miss him. He was a good man, a man of heart, a man who lived his life with passion, and shared his joie de vivre with everyone around him.Breathing
I lie flat upon my back,
having just flung myself to the ground following the full effort of a bicycle ride up a long hill,
breathing deep and hard,
swallowing gulps of restoring air.I feel my rib-cage lift against the fabric of my shirt as each breath enters my lungs, ...
Book review, Title A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories, Author Flannery O'Connor, Rating 3.0,
A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories
Flannery O'Connor
Book review
A good man cannot be found
Within Flannery O'Conner's short story collection, A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories, a good man is not just difficult to find, but impossibly so. Thank God I am not Flannery O'Connor. I would not trade her ability to tell a story, and she was uncommonly good in some ways, for her brutal and dismissive view of the world. Harshness, of circumstance and character, formed her viewpoint; what is also redeeming found little place in her stories. It appears in O'Connor one can only find redemption outside of humanity, and that is dispensed grudgingly, with the great violence of the Old Testament God.
Book review, Title Heart Of Darkness, Author Joseph Conrad, Rating 5.0,
Heart Of Darkness
Joseph Conrad
Book review
Heart out of darkness
In Joseph Conrad's classic novella, Heart of Darkness, the sailor Marlow serves as the author's version of Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, compelled to tell his story of conscience to whatever audience he finds. The story he tells is indeed dark, and indeed about the heart, albeit mostly the lack thereof. Conrad takes apart the European colonial enterprise, particularly the carving-up of Africa in the nineteenth century, and strips bare all of the tales of adventure from those times and places, along with the high-flown language of imperialism which was used to mask the utter barbarity of the undertaking.
Oregon Scribbler.
Memories of Shelby Ferguson
My sister-in-law, Shelby Ferguson, died recently while walking in her garden. Shelby was my wife Cindy's older sister, and I have known her for more than half of my life.
I married into the Ferguson clan, who made me a part of their family, and indeed, at home. Shelby was kind and gracious and loving to me, and made me feel welcome, and when I think of Shelby I will always remember that. Love you, Shelby.
Pocket Review, Title Broadway Danny Rose, Studio MGM/UA, Rating 4.5,
Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
Director: Woody Allen
Pocket Review
Broadway Danny Rose: A movie that never gets old
The top of my Woody Allen movie list is reserved for Broadway Danny Rose'. The movie opens with a scene at the Carnegie Deli, with a bunch of (actual) Borscht Belt comedians swapping stories on a lazy afternoon, and one of them begins to tell Danny's story. Danny is a very small-time theatrical agent in New York City, kind of the Charlie Brown of agents, who never seems to get a break. He works his butt off for small-time acts: Balloon folders, waterglass musicians,one-legged tap-dancers, stuttering ventriloquists, and the like.
Book review, Title Trent, Author John W. Malley, Rating 3.0,
Trent
John W. Malley
Book review
Trent: Too little, too late
Trent: What Happened at the Council, is a well-researched and well-told history of the Council of Trent, the mid-sixteenth-century Counter-Reformation centerpiece which produced the Catholic Church's response to the Protestant Reformation. This acount is carefully grounded in the complex politics of its times, placing the history of the Council in the balance- of-power tug-of-war, not just between reform movements within and without (Protestants) the Church, but among the nascent Ottoman Empire, the English Reformation, the Holy Roman Empire, the Papal States and the French monarchy.
Book review, Title What Is Life?, Author Erwin Schrödinger, Rating 4.5,
What Is Life?
Erwin Schrödinger
Book review
The physical sublety of life
I recently re-read portions Erwin Schroedinger's amazing little book What is Life?, which was a post-war stimulus for a number of physicists to switch from physics to biology and look hard for a physical understanding of living organisms.
Book review, Title The Harry Bosch Series, Author Michael Connelly, Rating 3.5,
The Harry Bosch Series
Michael Connelly
Book review
Hieronymus Bosch in L.A.
As a relatively new Angeleno, I thought it would be fun to read a detective novel that took place in Los Angeles. The Harry Bosch novels by Michael Connelly more than fit the bill. Hieronymus Bosch, is a Los Angeles police detective, and his stories take place mostly in Central, West Los Angeles and the San Fernando valley, the three areas of Los Angeles I am most familiar with.
Book review, Title The US Constitution, Author United States, Rating 4.0,
The US Constitution
United States
Book review
So slender a thread
In one good hour the U.S. Constitution can be read from front to back. It is written in relatively clear language and still has the capacity to surprise.
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