For most of my adult life I avoided sadness. I didn’t cry much and tried to stay positive, and when trouble did arise, I’d adopt a stoic attitude and set my feelings aside. While I didn’t believe the purpose of life was to be happy,... Continue

We think in linear terms, creating straight lines between cause and effect. Buddhists call it Karma. The universe, however, has no straight lines; everything in spacetime travels a curved path. Moreover, the curved paths intersect and influence each other, producing complex levels of uncertainty that... Continue

How did you become who you are? We all start as a nameless soup of chemicals, some self-catalyzing. For all the characteristics we share as living beings, each of us are nonetheless individuals with our own quirks and characteristics. The better we get to know... Continue

In preparing to sell my home of thirty years, my real estate agent advised me to update it. More than just a touch up, it was more of a modest remodel that took considerable effort and expense. It was worth it; the house sold within... Continue

America’s current strategy of dominance now explicitly includes removing leaders of other countries by force or outright killing them. Killing political leaders used to be called assassination, a widely condemned practice. We used to place such brutality in a low moral category, even when it... Continue

When you live with and love someone for 50 years, you get at all: the fullness of youth, the blossoming of middle age, the challenges of getting old, memories of tenderness, vitality, decline, joy and sorrow.  I am a paternal type, a combination of care... Continue

It happens when you hit the tip of your index finger hard with a hammer. It hurts like hell immediately, of course, and you know you’re in for trouble. Then it turns red and begins pulsating. The nail quickly gets discolored as blood seeps under... Continue

The role of government in a democracy has always been a matter of contention. Should government’s primary effort be the protection of individual liberty or the protection of the common good? Proponents of the former believe the protection of individual liberty includes defending private property... Continue

The media is on fire about the Epstein files, and rightfully so. The files reveal the way an entire class of men – wealthy, celebrated, entitled – routinely connected with each other to share contacts, socialize and enjoy themselves, often at the expense of others.... Continue