by admin | Nov 15, 2010 |
Eddie Chiles, the now deceased iconic Texas oil man and onetime owner of the Texas Rangers, didn’t say it first, but he excited public attention by a series of radio ads that were introduced by his signature line, “I’m Eddie Chiles. and I’m mad as hell”. Ultimately there arose a public response from some of the great unwashed in the form of bumper stickers that read, “I’m mad too, Eddie”. It was never clear to me exactly what everyone was mad about, but I got a pretty good idea from other of his rhetoric which complained of “wild government spending”, “runaway regulation”, and even “tyrannical bureaucracy”. Sound familiar? He even threw in that his...
by admin | Oct 13, 2010 |
My first visit to China and Beijing was in 1985, four years before the episode we all remember which played out at Tianamen Square in 1989. As I stood in the center of the square with S. yesterday, I had flashbacks to my experiences over the last twenty-five years. I thought it might be worthwhile, even interesting to recount some of them for you as a prelude to the blogs I intend to post during and after our current trip as tourists to the Middle Kingdom. It’s worth while to note that the literal translation of Tianamen is Gate of Heavenly Peace or sometimes, mandate from Heaven. I guess the gods will never leave us alone, even in China. 1. My first...
by admin | Sep 15, 2010 |
There is always music and color when Indian religion is in the air. I’ve struggled to make order out of everything we’ve seen, smelled, and experienced, but I’m afraid that’s well beyond my capability. Two weeks is a short time and India is a big, complex piece of geography, history and humanity. The best I can do is to share some of the impressions we take with us. They are presented here in absolute random order. That is to say I’m writing them down as I think of them which may, or may not, have anything to do with how or when they occured. I’m writting this as we’re on the way from Paris to Houston, a 10 hour daylight flight after a 9 hour night time...
by admin | Sep 12, 2010 |
One of the enduring questions of our time is “what caused our current financial crisis/meltdown/catastrophe/snafu/disaster”. No one seems to know for sure, but everyone has a lot to say on the subject. It probably won’t surprise you, but I know the answer, and I’m going to tell you, but not right away. First, you’re gonna have to suffer through a little erudite discourse before I get to the bottom line. Let me start by asking rhetorically if there really is a problem? You may think it odd that I spend any energy on this question, but given the fact that we live in a society wherein some still think that Neil Armstrong didn’t really walk on the moon, that...
by admin | Sep 12, 2010 |
I was signing some Christmas cards last Christmas season and thought of the Merry Christmas and Happy New Year that we throw around so lightly, and started to wonder, as I often do, what do we really mean when we say Happy New Year. Certainly we don’t mean it as an adjective modifying the noun, because it’s non-sensical to think that something inanimate, such as a new year, can be happy. Everyone knows that only people or puppies can be happy. And I am happy. Flat out. No doubt about it. If you would have asked me, I may have had a hard time defining happiness or even why I am happy, but there you are, I am happy. Having gone this far, however, I...
