What's on my mind
This post is about a tour guide's insight into the emergence of Hungary from foreign domination. The guide was Agnes K, a retired schoolteacher. Her tour concentrated on the Pest side, particularly government and political sites, followed by a traditional Hungarian restaurant that was partly a museum of cultural history. Agnes showed us a statue… Continue reading Some Insight into Hungarian Political History
In 1992 on vacation we visited The Royal Museum of Art and History in Brussels and saw an exhibit of an African, housed in a glass case, dating from the 19th century. This was not a statue or a model, but the preserved body of a human being, exhibited as is if it were a… Continue reading The Persistence of Racism
In today's Albany Times Union (March 10, 2017) , my friend Rex Smith writes about the confidence we should place in the scientific pronouncements of athletes or politicians. For an athlete he chooses Kyrie Irving, a basketball player who claims to believe the earth is flat. For a politician, he chooses Scott Pruitt, the Trump… Continue reading The Flat Earthers
Predictably, Trump is backing up the proposed repeal of the Affordable Care Act. The provisions of this proposed law restrict Medicaid payments, likely forcing millions of poor and elderly people to lose their health insurance. This is in stark contrast to Trump's promise to have coverage for everybody. Opposing this law are doctors, hospitals, and… Continue reading Betrayal of the People, III
The Trump administration is about to propose a rollback in emission requirements for new cars, that will lead to an increase in carbon dioxide released by the nation's fleet. This will be a huge step backward, out of touch with the rest of the world, and will benefit only the manufacturers of automobiles (New York… Continue reading Betrayal of the People, II
Every day, each new policy announced further confirms the allegiance of Donald Trump to many components of a standard right wing agenda. Here is a headline: “White House proposes steep budget cut to leading climate science agency” – Washington Post (March 3, 2017). The agency is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which surveys weather… Continue reading Betrayal of the People
"Take all the prophets of Baal, and let not one of them escape you; Bring them down to Kishon’s brook, and there let them be slain". Elijah, by Mendelssohn This example, drawn from a Jewish book written several centuries before the current era, calls also to mind the events of the French Revolution, in… Continue reading The Spirit of Revenge
This is the text of a letter I sent to my Republican congressman, John Faso: "You are old enough to remember the Watergate affair. After six long years Nixon's criminality was catching up to him in 1974. In the famous words of Howard Baker, "What did the President know, and when did he know it?"… Continue reading Time to Get the Ball Rolling
Did your parents tell you the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf? It is one of Aesop's fables. Wikipedia sums it up: "The tale concerns a shepherd boy who repeatedly tricks nearby villagers into thinking wolves are attacking his flock. When one actually does appear and the boy again calls for help, the villagers… Continue reading The Boy Who Cried Wolf – a Letter to the president (sic)
Dear President Trump: I was taught at home to treat everyone equally. So even as a child I had friends who were of all colors, religions, and economic backgrounds. My parents taught me to treat everybody the same as far as that goes. But they also taught me to avoid doing bad things, such as… Continue reading On the Nazi Track
