April 12, 2009

The Death Penalty Up Close and Personal

A few days ago, a discussion about the death penalty broke out in the small, civil forum where I usually hang out. The argument quickly devolved into a debate about the validity of the conventional abstractions.  Does the death penalty deter or ...

March 21, 2009

Superficially Wise (But Actually Foolish) Sayings of Smart People - 2

Our first foray into the realm of pseudo-wisdom has to be rated an unqualified success. I received more than 100 comments and another thirty or so e-mails directly. Most of these were entries into the Contest-Without-A-Prize, and most quite good....

February 28, 2009

Superficially Wise (But Actually Foolish) Sayings of Smart People (A Contest)

A long time ambition of mine, which is being fulfilled in this writing, has been to conduct a competition to identify sayings, aphorisms if you will, that are often quoted, apparently expressions of great wisdom, that -- when they are in depth a...

February 16, 2008

Boomers and the Vietnam Shrug

Back in 1963, when I was a junior in high school, summer jobs were not so easy to come by -- the negative aspect of Baby Boomer demographics. Finally, a friend managed to line me up with a job busing tables at a local Catholic retreat house. I served...