Thoughts and Stories

Allowing people to own guns has destroyed our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I noticed that the New York City Ballet’s building is now named The David H Koch Theater. He had given $100 million to the company, quite a gift. I knew that he is a fan of the ballet, and everyone knows that the ballet needs money. Arts organizations get very little government funding. Should they […]

Most Americans invest in stocks, often via IRAs or pensions or mutual funds that invest for us, but I buy a modest amount of stocks, usually through a conglomerate of companies called an index fund. For example, I own a few shares of one of the many indexes based on the S&P 500, one of […]

The duct tape and handcuffs that the robbers used in 1990, which the FBI had collected on the day they took over the case, has gone missing. I am no expert in criminology, but it seems as another sign of incompetence for such a competent agency. Already a retired FBI agent said that the case […]

In the late 1950s, my family went to a film festival in Damascus. We were in Beirut, and I was too young to remember. Difficult to imagine, but Syria and Lebanon were progressive, open and comfortable, made up of diverse Christian communities dating back to the time of Jesus, a thriving Jewish community, Sunni and […]

The Theremin, an electronic musical instrument invented in 1920, became the foundation for synthesized music. Much of the music we hear today—in movies, commercials, stores—is synthesized, which is cheaper to produce than hiring musicians to play instruments. The electronic music revolution took off in the 1950s and 60s, but right after the Soviet Revolution, Lev […]

I recommend visiting Ellis Island in New York for anyone interested in seeing what America is made of. Of the twelve million who walked up the stairs of the immigration building, there are many more times the number of descendants in the US today. Those people had many children. Catholics and Protestants and Jews. Single […]

I celebrate bicycle touring. Cyclists don’t see the world—they experience it. Biking is quiet, scenic, physically active but not necessarily strenuous, non-polluting, and it can afford a stimulating social experience with friends, family, and the local people. You get a feeling of the place, integrate with people when you stop to ask for directions and […]

“DEMOCRACY” is specifically not mentioned in the US Constitution. Madison and the other writers feared that such a system would degenerate. Madison took his idea of government  such as two houses of congress from the Presbyterian Church, even though he wasn’t a religious fellow. The Greek philosophers derided democracy, likening it to mob rule. It […]

I had a terrific “Local Authors with Kameel Nasr” interview with Marian Stanley. Her debut novel The Immaculate was captivating and interesting. Set right here in the Boston area, actually in a make-believe suburb called Malford, which is a combination of Malden or Medford. Marian tackles the thorny subject of the Catholic Church and power, […]