There are substantial individual differences among people in regard to weight and health. Significantly, folks tend to associate with groups that share their particular issues in this regard. We interact with those who (more…)
July 30, 2011
July 13, 2011
Vocationalism, Academic Freedom and Tenure (NYTimes by Stanley Fish)
My Comment on this article was the following:
The admiral notion of self-improvement and the perhaps more-realistic notion of occupational survival have resulted in great growth and concomitant change in so-called “higher” education. My concern with tenure is not with its principles but with its misuse.
July 4, 2011
Moral Patriotism — is it an oxymoron?
It is natural to form a special attachment to family, friends and surroundings, whether we are Americans, Chinese, Bangladeshi, whatever. But must our individual welfare come at the expense of those (more…)
June 26, 2011
Do you choose to sing or not sing the Star Spangled Banner?
This CNN Belief Blog discusses the reaffirmation at Goshen College to not play the Star Spangled Banner at athletic events. For some people our national anthem is seen as so militaristic as to be offensive to religious conscience and not good for this country. (more…)
June 25, 2011
“Dieu le veult!” (“God wills it!”)
“Dieu le veult! Dieu le veult!” was the crowd’s response to the orchestrated call of Pope Urban II for a Holy Crusade. He goes on to say (more…)
June 22, 2011
Pierre Curie’s letter (1894) to his future wife Marie Curie.
I found this letter of Pierre Curie to Marie Sklodowska, (1894) in Eve Curie’s bio of her mother. How little have things changed, except that in those days, even scientists still had a conscience. (more…)
June 19, 2011
“Give me your tired, your poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” – NOT!
I have acquaintances who ask why the United States is accepting refugees from the Burma struggle, particularly when we are in a recession Why do we give them our jobs? I explain (more…)
June 18, 2011
Comment from the NYTimes re citizenship (not mine, but it speaks my mind).
“Unlike more civilized patriotic Americans who support the Fundamentalist Christian Agenda of self-sufficiency and the caste system, during my long life of sin, I have (more…)
June 1, 2011
Why do people think I was ever a Hippie?
Is Paul a Hippie? A colleague suggested this because I often wear a peace badge or peace T-shirts. OK, HUAC, I may be guilty of being a Quaker pacifist revolutionary socialist, and I have been a friend and fellow traveler of a number of other peaceful revolutionary socialists over the decades, but I do affirm (I don’t swear— Quaker, remember) that I was never a hippie. (more…)
Memorial Day thanks to the pacifists who prevent war
My special Memorial Day thanks are for those who have peacefully devoted their lives to the cause of peace. I hold in memory that we did NOT have WWIII with the Soviet Union and am grateful to the leadership of the peace movements (many were WWII pacifists such as A.J. Muste), who I believe did more to prevent wars and keep Korea and Vietnam from going nuclear (which almost happened), than any soldiers I know. (more…)