02 Sep

Posted at 10:15h in Observations

“In of the most striking patterns in yesterday’s [2018] election was years in the making: a major partisan divide between white voters with a college degree and those without one. According to exit polls, 61 percent of non-college-educated white voters cast their ballots for Republicans while just 45 percent of college-educated white voters did so. Meanwhile 53 percent of college-educated white voters cast their votes for Democrats compared with 37 percent of those without a degree. The diploma divide, as it’s often called, is...

01 Sep

Posted at 10:40h in Observations

In 1977 on a flight from NYC to Dallas, I sat next to a gentleman busy scribbling on his paperwork. Asked him what he was doing, he replied, "working out which bets I want to make" on some football games or horse races. We continued talking and he said he was a magazine writer but didn't mention his name as he felt I undoubtedly never heard of him. A couple of hours later, I asked him if anyone ever said he looked like Norman Mailer. He said, "Congratulations, it took you a while." I replied: "Someone has to be Norman Mailer and you're it; how is it being Norman Mailer, do you enjoy the role?" He replied: " Terrific role, really enjoying it." Mailer was a novelist, journalist, politician, essayist, playwright, film-maker, actor and painter; married six times; had nine children; numerous affairs; stabbed his wife; wrote 11 best-sellers; and cavorted with the glitterati. Yet, the man sitting next to me didn't seem to take his role too seriously. Maybe that's why he was Norman Mailer....

31 Aug

Posted at 10:15h in Observations

Winners are not those successful at their pursuits; the losers not those unsuccessful. The winners are laughing at the outcomes, the losers not....

30 Aug

Posted at 10:14h in Observations

Some years back I viewed a documentary movie about the brutalities of the "Dirty War" in Argentina (1976 - 83) when thousands of people disappeared through state sponsored terrorism. One woman interviewed was a rare survivor. She was asked how she felt about the perpetrators, "you must hate them" suggested the interviewer. "No" she said, "I don't hate them, I fear them." She learned from her experience whom to avoid but as she was essentially happy she was free to move forward without emotional distractions from the past....

27 Aug

Posted at 10:15h in Observations

God is the knowledge that we are all connected. Religion is about rules which connect its adherents and exclude others; the antithesis of God....

24 Aug

Posted at 02:22h in Observations

"The one is made up of all things, and all things issue from the one." God is that which is within and unfolds into the infinite manifestations of the universe, the without. We are never lacking (never without) as what's without is always within....

22 Aug

Posted at 00:02h in Observations

Anticipating a problem lessens its consequences. When we envision problematic events, we can adjust accordingly and mitigate their consequences. As problems initially unfold slowly and then suddenly, when we identify problems unfolding slowly we can to some extent get out of their harm's way before they unfold suddenly. However, many of us fear envisioning potential problems as doing so makes us anxious; thus we suffer the consequences of our blinding fears....

20 Aug

Posted at 00:07h in Observations

“There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech.” Freedom of speech is the foundation of a well-functioning state, unlike Uganda when Idi Amin ruled it.  Considering many independent perspectives allows us the wisest choices (the wisdom of the crowd).  Today, however, often there is no freedom after speech as unpopular opinions are denied social media access or those who voice their opinions are marginalized and attacked by those uncomfortable with perspectives that don't comport with their own. This is how a state begins to slide into monolithic thinking and loses its ability to adapt to changing circumstances which ultimately leads to its demise....

15 Aug

Posted at 10:15h in Observations

When the world is at peace, there's a ever-bigger piece of pie for each of us. At war, each warring state fights for peace on its own terms and ever-smaller pieces of pie....