Category Archives: Uncategorized

JULY 1, 2020 ON CHINA   Anyone who has had the pleasure of teaching young Chinese will tell you that the experience gives one the impression that these youngsters are exceedingly bright, stunningly hard working, lovely people, and that they like each other.  The more one teaches them here or in China, the more one […]

JULY 4, 2020 ON HUMANISM   It may serve all of us well if we know that “humanism” originated not as a religion of its own but as a brake on religious zealotry. In the 16th and 17th centuries, when most of the European population accepted one religious creed or another, European intellectuals (Humanists) fashioned […]

SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 ON UNCHARITABLE CHARITIES   Why might a wealthy taxpayer start a section 501(c)(3) foundation? Reason #1  He can donate some of his wealth to the foundation and take a tax donation for the transfer and still have some control over the funds.  If he donates to the Cancer Drive, the cancer society […]

DECEMBER 23, 2020 ON CRITICIZING CHINA   We have arrived at a time when every contact with the Chinese is suspect.  Recent abuses by the government of that country have attracted justifiable laments, especially when the Mainland government arrests Christian leaders in Hong Kong. It is easy and often self-aggrandizing for a westerner to criticize […]

DECEMBER 25, 2020 ON HUMBUG!   It must be fun, to do this, else there is not much motivation, so this is not the first Christmas season that witnesses an article in local or national media claiming that Charles Dickens was an economic critic who did not understand free enterprise and that in Britain at […]

DECEMBER 26, 2080 ON DOCTORS OR NOT   What does it mean to hold a “doctorate” from a university? Well, it can mean lots of things.  A doctorate from M.I.T. is an inordinately valuable asset for the person who earned it.  It provides the holder with entrée to employment, acceptance of papers (articles) in non-juried […]

DECEMBER 27, 2020 ON RACIST TALK OR NOT   TFor many years, the Washington NFL team name was not “widely seen as a racial slur.”  That professional football franchise originated in Massachusetts, and the name the franchise owners selected (Red Skins) was part of their effort to woo Boston sport fans who cheered for the […]

DECEMBER 28, 2020 ON ANOTHER DAY AT THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE   Masters of Business Administration programs have provided universities with healthy tuition dollars and, often, donations from successful MBA graduates.  But, has the growth in MBA numbers benefited society and business?  Has it benefitted the graduate’s sense of worth?  Sometimes, but sometimes not. For the […]

DECEMBER 29, 2020 ON WISDOM FROM THE “OLD FOLKS” The younger generations are often exceedingly bright, especially with modern technological advancements, space research, and the like.  But being bright alone does not overcome ignorance.  Are young people often not ignorant of, among other things, Buddhism, Confucianism, Judeo Christianity, and a peaceful brand of Islam?  To […]

DECEMBER  30, 2020 ON BOOKS  BY “XX” with ”YY” AND HARRY TRUMAN             One suspects that much fiction or even history or social science books written today are the product of the named author’s work but with the help in varying degrees of researchers.  Sometimes, authors give their researchers equal billing as “coauthors.”  Sometimes, they […]