poetics.info

My recent trip to Shanghai, China, in December 2009.

I’ve been watching this story on Iran’s “election” build for weeks now; and I, like everyone in the U.S. just assumed that Friday’s vote would come and go and that Ahmadinejad would be reinstated, as dictators always are, and that would be that.
Then, when I started to see images on blogs of rallies starting at [...]

Part II: Why Obama Scares MeI’ve been remiss in my blogging but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been following current events closely. I’m in shock. I can’t believe how fast the Obama Administration is moving toward a socialist economic system. I’m outraged that the Bush Administration set the stage. It seems like yesterday I [...]

Growing up on the Gulf Coast and now living in Florida on the Atlantic side, hurricanes are just a part of life. I experienced Frederic in 1979, which hit Mobile, Alabama, directly as a category 3. I remember walking outside during the eye of the storm and being overcome with awe at the pink-tainted stillness. [...]

I love John Mauldin’s newsletters. I am not his typical fan, I’m sure, as I am not a venture capitalist and my investing doesn’t go much beyond an IRA. But I learned of him one day while reading Thrutch by Amit Ghate and have been enjoying Mr. Mauldin’s newsletters ever since.
This past week he had [...]

I’m still on hiatus from hardcore blogging (for personal reasons), but I couldn’t resist posting this picture drawn by my niece. It made me smile. Thanks, KJ!

Sam Harris recently gave a lecture at an “atheist” conference where he shocked his audience by telling them their use of the label “atheist” is a huge mistake — “a mistake of some consequence,” to be exact.
To understand the magnitude of his “seditious proposal,” you have to know that Harris is considered one of the [...]

Blogging has been slow in September, partly because I’ve been sick for almost a week now. I’ve also taken two vacations in September — one a few weeks back to Sanibel Island (pictured below) and tomorrow I head to D.C. I will blog on a meeting with fellow atheists there when I get [...]

Have you ever found yourself lamenting the decline of morality in the world? And, I don’t mean religious morality. I mean respect for living virtuously here and now — being rational, honest, independent, productive and just.
Do you sometimes feel like the cheaters and liars of the world are rewarded, while the honest people are left [...]