As you can see from the chart above, drug deaths have come near to quintupling in the 20 years between 1999 and 2020. Partially published reports from 2021 show that the curve continues upward. Anecdotal reports from 2022 show the same. Notice how smooth the curve is. Beginning in 2016 the curve seems to start […]

Being a Karen (or Ken) has become a memé. One only needs to go to YouTube® and type in the name “Karen” to receive multiple results in which people are shown to be behaving not merely badly but also ignorantly and criminally. Unlike the memé above, Karens (and Kens) are found in more than one […]

The photograph above is of one of our grandchildren. This is his first day as an altar server. Notice how concentrated he is on going things right. Notice also that there is an adult altar server standing next to him who is his mentor this particular Sunday. This is the way it ought to be. […]

Many of us have heard or been told about, the experiment in which supposedly Coca-Cola was used to dissolve a nail in four days. I know that I first heard of it as a teenager. This experiment was supposed to show us that Coca-Cola was bad for us to drink, and how it would damage […]

There is a good article on the Renew Democracy Initiative website regarding moderation in all things political. If you click on the image above, it will take you to the article. It is called “Defining Democracy: Moderation” and it is a much-needed corrective to the way in which we have been approaching politics from both […]

“Abba Abraham told of a man of Scetis who was a scribe and did not eat bread. A brother came to beg him to copy a book. The old man whose spirit was engaged in contemplation, wrote, omitting some phrases and with no punctuation. The brother, taking the book and wishing to punctuate it, noticed […]

My generation, and the ones after that, have never seen America fully win a war, as they did in various previous wars. We have seen America lose two wars: Vietnam and Afghanistan. Korea was a stalemate in which the UN troops were driven back to the 38th parallel before an armistice was reached. Technically both […]

As many of you know, I am a fan of manga from the Far East countries. It is always interesting to read stories written from a different cultural and religious viewpoint. As these are manga, they are not trying to win converts nor make philosophical arguments. Rather, they are trying to present a readable story […]