A familiar sound at our house recently has been the screech of electrical gadgets sending out one last desperate distress call, as they die from another Portland General Electric (PGE) power failure. “How long will it last this time,” we wonder? Calls to PGE are infuriating, because they rarely provide essential information as to what […]
As we approach Christmas, I am reminded of how profoundly we have benefited from a benevolent God who admonishes us to be good people, help our fellow men, and obey the Ten Commandments. Christianity is the basis of Western Civilization and its premier achievement: science. More than 2,000 yearly celebrations of the birth of Jesus […]
The death toll from COVID-19 is staggering. So far a million Americans and more than six million people worldwide have perished. Even though the United States, with less than 5 percent of the world’s population, is far from the most populous nation on earth, we have experienced, by far, the greatest number of reported deaths. […]
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” is a relatively recent (1957) Christmas story by Dr. Seuss that has a serious theme objecting to the commercialization of Christmas, while at the same time, delighting children with a happy ending. Upon hearing a joyous Christmas song, the Grinch realizes that “maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more” […]
A nation “of the people, by the people, and for the people” will perish from the earth if we do not demand that everyone play by the rules that protect all citizens. That is why we have laws and additional expectations of civil behavior spelled out in the Judaeo-Christian tradition by the Ten Commandments or […]
“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” Those eloquent words come from the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, and are engraved in stone at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC. President Trump has promised to protect that monument against […]
Count me as a believer in abrupt “Climate Change.” The political climate changed so abruptly on November 8th that most were stunned. It led to rioting in Portland, profound mourning among Obama followers, and panic among those who have lived off Obama’s generosity with taxpayer money. For me, it was incredibly good news. Trump not […]