As planned I met with friends Tuesday evening for philosophy discussion. We considered the words of Seneca on the subject of friendship. The subject was apropos in our own time of political gridlock, when words seem to make little difference. Feeling is confused with thinking. Feelings are shifting sand, nothing upon which to forge…
It is Tuesday morning. The sun rises gloriously. The air is still and cold, about 13 degrees F. The President will deliver his first State of the Union address tonight. I will not be watching. I plan to be with friends sampling Scotch and philosophizing about an essay by Seneca on friendship. Friendship takes…
What lessons can be taken away from the stories of the three Julio-Claudian emperors, the city-bred descendants of Augustus and Livia? The language is that of Will Durant. Durant writes “They began like Gabriel, and ended like Lucifer.” 1. When power devolves from being distributed between the legislative and the executive branch an unconstitutional…
Spent the last hour reading Will Durant’s account of three Roman emperors, The Story of Civilization vol. III. The writing style is as lucid as the content of the story is disturbing, displaying aspects of able rule and extremes of cruelty. Here are some excerpts. Gaius Caesar Germanicus (Caligula or Little Boot) emperor AD…
The Women’s March of protest and hope in Chicago provided much material for reflection. Participation is a catalysis for personal change. I know I am not the same person I was one week ago. I am changed in ways that will be recognizable as my future unfolds. Everything is connected. We separate aspects of…
They are trying again, trying to avoid a partial government shutdown by Friday and trying to prevent 700,000 non-citizen Americans, resident here since infancy, from being exiled to some strange country where they neither speak the language nor have means for survival. They are trying to refund the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The well…
The controversy rolls on in reference to the President’s profane characterization of the inhabitants of Haiti and of the African nations. Today when questioned the Secretary of DHS Kristen Nielsen said that she did not hear the vulgar language that others heard the President say. She was in the room. All she heard was…
I’ve been looking at the box of books on my “to read” list. I buy books, one or even two or three at a time. One book leads to another and another. This has been the story of my life for many years. I have subjects of interest that I’ve revisited over and over,…
The sun shines with morning brilliance. Deep winter reigns over the landscape with close to zero temps at 9AM. The end table of Starbucks seating area is ideal for surveying the hubbub of coming and going, conversations between pairs of individuals at single tables, to the long table at the far end of the…
Here I am twelve hours later at Starbucks, 4PM. I awakened at 4AM giving up on the endeavor of normal sleep, acceding to my restlessness. I got up, and read for a while; then prepared for a day of work. Was it the late evening cup of caffeinated coffee? Maybe the excitement of our…
