The NYTimes today reported on the Supreme Court’s decision that advising about peaceful or humane alternatives with groups that the State Department has designated as terrorist is the equivalent of aiding and abetting the enemy. I guess the U.S. follows the “shoot first, talk later” approach – oops, we can’t be doing that, that’s terrorist. So what IS the Supreme Court thinking?
One of my NYTimes Comments in response to their articles was the following: (more…)
This NYTimes article presents research that attempts to establish that incompetent people are too incompetent to realize their incompetence. The authors note that those grammatically challenged actually believe that they are good writers. Sometimes overall incompetence may be the answer, but there is another possible explanation for why incompetent writers think that they are doing so well. I posted the following response on the NYTimes Comment site. (more…)
Fifty years ago I graduated from Mount Hermon, a preparatory boarding school in the middle of nowhere in northwestern MA. They have since combined with their sister school across the Connecticut River, Northfield School, to form Northfield Mount Hermon. (more…)
This article illustrates an extreme example of technology ruling our lives, but many of us experience the conflict between technology and “real” (human) interaction. (more…)
I posted the following Comment in the NYTimes in response to the Senate candidate’s misleading speeches (“lies” may be too strong a word for it) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/nyregion/19veterans.html regarding service in Vietnam:
What bothers me even more than his inferences of having served in Vietnam is that Blumenthal’s Vietnam campaign strategy works directly against the nation’s welfare today, as he tries to generate anger over Vietnam so as to garner veterans’ votes. (more…)
Although I often get called to report for jury duty, this week was the first time I have been selected to serve. Usually they are not interested in me; search Jury Duty on this site for possible reasons. This time I was selected even though I wore a button that said Wage Peace next to the button that said Juror and had indicated on a questionnaire that I could not promise to follow the judge’s instructions. My thinking on this issue is that I would have to follow my conscience first, if there were a conflict between conscience and the law. I am pleased that I was found suitable for jury duty. Things might have been different in a murder trial, because I cannot support capital punishment. It is appropriate to remove from society people who are a danger to others, but I wish to leave open the possibility of rehabilitation. The trial lasted four days, and to learn about the trial itself, read… (more…)
It’s a fascinating structure, folks fawn over it, but there is a dark side.
I’ve spend the last three hours reading education articles in the NYTimes, Chronicle of Higher Education, and related links. Let me relate this to my own institution. We are tuition driven, and without sufficient paying students, Villanova as you know it would not exist. Villanova has some excellent humanities programs. If you can afford them, and you love learning, they are wonderful and worth every penny. If you have limited funds and (more…)
On April 4 1967 at Riverside Church, MLKing delivered Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence. This was a moment of great moral courage. History now honors the man but not the message (something similar to Christianity going on here?). The speech was not just about Vietnam, but called for changes to insure a world with true peace and justice for all BEYOND Vietnam. Exactly one year later, he was killed. I have no doubt that the majority of Americans, although shocked at his death, were also relieved. At that time many Americans felt the need for a black American hero (to counter all the white ones), a black who was non-violent (to counter societal fears), but did not want to hear what he said would be required for a world with peace and justice. Denial of his message seems to be as true today as then. Happy Easter.
At the time of the public exhibit of the Enola Gay (the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima), a substantial number of respected historians sent a letter to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution objecting to the bias inherent in the exhibit. Their letter is one of the best statements of some historical facts (see their reference list) that support that there was no military rationale for using atomic weapons on Japan. Please read the letter and other supporting reference material (click the Comments for the full story) and evaluate the situation for yourself in light of this informaton.
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