The Conclave ended yesterday with the elevation of the first American-born pope, who took on the name of Pope Leo XIV. This is viewed as a continuation of the doctrines of Pope Francis, focused on inclusivity and the advocacy of the most marginalized of the world, specifically immigrants. Nothing more defines our epoch of the world than the issue of immigration. I’ve said it before, so I will risk repeating myself by saying that this…
I’m sure most people think that Harvard University’s sports uniform color of crimson has something to do with its long history or its regal beginnings. Not so. Harvard’s color is crimson because in 1858, when Harvard’s rowing team needed to distinguish themselves at a regatta, they chose to use red bandanas as their identifying marker. This choice eventually evolved into the official adoption of crimson as Harvard’s color. The specific shade of crimson became official…
I don’t do a ton of social media and never have. I’ve specially gotten off of Facebook, but apparently the rest of the world is not there as I see Meta setting g new quarterly earnings records. I keep an eye on Instagram but never post (not sure how that adds to Meta’s pocketbook). Snapchat is how my kids and I stay in touch. From what I can tell, that strongman, Anatoly and whoever publishes…
The Big Sleep is a classic noir detective novel written by Raymond Chandler, first published in 1939. I read the novel in 1974 when taking a literature course to hang out with a girl I was dating. It was the first novel to feature Chandler’s iconic private detective character Philip Marlowe. The story follows Marlowe as he’s hired by the elderly General Sternwood to deal with a blackmailer named Arthur Geiger who’s targeting the general’s…
When did DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) enter our common parlance? The term “DEI” as an acronym for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion appears to have entered common parlance relatively recently, though the concepts themselves have deeper historical roots. The concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion predate the DEI terminology, with their foundations traced back to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed, prohibiting discrimination based on race,…
Who could be more American than Andy Williams? He sang the theme song from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Moon River, in 1962 and then never looked back until it was eventual put into the Librsry of Congress a few years ago as a hallmark of Americana. At the height of his success, in 1966, Williams wrote the theme song for another great movie that I’ve written about, Doctor Zhivago. That song was called Somewhere My Love…
A Funny thing happened on the way into 2025. We were promised by candidate and president-elect Trump that he would immediately bring the wars in Gaza and Ukraine to a brisk end. It’s been almost 90 days since the inauguration and whatever ceasefire existed in Gaza has been overtaken by events and resulted in Israel continuing to execute attacks on Gaza’s Palestinian community. As for Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the man who Trump has called a…
A profound question for the ages that has challenged philosophers, theologians, and thinkers across cultures and throughout history is why evil exists. There are several perspectives on why evil exists. From a theological standpoint, many traditions grapple with the “problem of evil” – how to reconcile the existence of suffering with an all-powerful, all-knowing, and benevolent deity. Some propose that evil is the necessary consequence of free will, allowing humans to make moral choices. Others…
A few months ago I mentioned in one of my stories that one of Donald Trump’s golfing pals, Steve Witkoff was a shocking choice to me as the new Middle East negotiator on the Israeli/Gaza situation. I likened in to the equally shocking choice of Jerrod Kushner for that role in Trump’s first administration. Of course, Jerrod got what he wanted from the gig after the Emirates and Saudi Arabia (via his big bud, MBS)…
It is still early April and yet the weather here on our hilltop has turned summer-like. The weather forecast says it will be 80 degrees, but if the hilltop holds true to form, that means it will likely be in the mid-80s at least. My annual AC checkup was last week and the system is raring to go, as are the Big Ass fans on the ceiling, which are already slowly turning as though to…