Current Affairs « The Ramblings of An Eternal Student of Life

Thursday, June 18, 2020

Current Affairs ... Public Policy ... Society ...

I grew up in a fairly devout Roman Catholic family, and we went to church regularly. But I was never an altar boy. However, my younger brother did don the cassock and surplice (and today, he still occasionally serves as an adult acolyte at his local parish — he hopes to get back to that once services return to normal following the COVID pandemic).

My brother did the altar boy thing into his high school years, and he got to know a lot of other kids who wished to be involved in the Catholic mass ceremony (albeit at a rather subservient level). He became friends with several of his fellow servers. One fellow was about his own age, and came up the ranks with him — but unlike my brother, this fellow went all the way up the ecclesiastical stairway. Following high school, he joined a seminary and became a priest after college study in Europe. My brother himself actually had the priest dream, but the circumstances of his life led him away from it.

My brother stayed in touch with his former altar boy now priest friend over the years — let’s call this fellow “Jay” although that’s not his real name. Jay and my brother would go a few years without talking, then come across one another and have a catch-up. About 15 years ago, it became known that Father Jay had been “put on inactive status” while being investigated by the diocese for allegations of sexual contact with a minor. His case was reviewed by the Vatican, which in effect gave him a NOT GUILTY verdict. Despite that, he never served as a parish priest again; he » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 10:31 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Monday, May 25, 2020

◊ The Kings: MLK and Elvis

Current Affairs ... History ... Music ...

The COVID crisis has changed a lot of things, big and small. One of the smaller and more subtle changes that I’ve noticed involves the songs being played on the local radio stations. The playlist now seems a little more somber and serious than before. I guess that’s what fits the mood right now.

I was recently listening to an oldies station (I’m not a big fan of pop music from the 50s thru 80s, but I still like the station), and I heard a song by Elvis – which is not unusual, since oldies stations pretty much exist to play Elvis songs. But this was one of Elvis’s later songs, the ones that are not nearly as famous and don’t get played as much as “Hound Dog”, “Don’t Be Cruel”, “Blue Suede Shoes”, “Can’t Help Falling In Love”, “Jailhouse Rock”, etc.

I was never a big fan of Elvis; to me, he was “before my time”. Although admittedly he still had a lot of hit tunes in the mid 60s and into the 70s, when I became a transistor radio kid. I came of age with the Beatles, Dave Clark Five, the Stones, Jerry and the Pacemakers — i.e. the “British Wave”.

But from 1968 thru 70, Elvis came out with some songs that seemed very different from his usual style. They seemed more introspective, more story-telling, more human-oriented. I still enjoy hearing “Kentucky Rain“. Elvis was no longer just a kid singing “All Shook Up” (and getting filthy rich and famous for it!).

But during this period, » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 3:14 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

◊ C S Lewis and Coronavirus: NEVER SURRENDER

Current Affairs ... Spirituality ...

The 92nd St Y just put out a podcast with Adam Gopnik reading and discussing a quote from CS Lewis, regarding life after WW2. People in Europe and the US were coming to realize that they could be hit by a nuclear bomb with little warning; in a flash it would incinerate them and the world around them. Lewis, as the Christian writer and thinker that he was, tried to address the spiritual crisis that this created. His advice is a bit fatalistic; he accepts that nuclear weapons are part of the modern world, he doesn’t talk about changing that. However, Lewis has some advice about getting on with life despite the dark shadows. Mr. Gopnik found this advice relevant to us today, with our COVID 19 pandemic.

Here in paraphrase is Lewis’ advice:

Let us not exaggerate the novelty of our situation. Believe me, you and all that you love were already sentenced to death before the atom bomb was made. The first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together.

If we are all going to be destroyed by a bomb, let that bomb come when we are doing sensible and human things. Praying, working, teaching, reading, playing music, bathing our children, playing tennis with a friend or chatting with them over a game of darts. Never huddle together like frightened sheep, thinking only about bombs. A bomb can break our bodies, a microbe can do that too. But they need not dominate our minds.

So, CS Lewis tells us that the prospect of instant death once nuclear powers go to war is not really all that unique, not all that new. The possibility of unexpected death was always a part of human life (ironically, the current pandemic is causing us to experience what so much of humankind constantly lived with before the age of modern medicine – they didn’t have hypersonic thermonuclear warheads to deal with, but they did have the Black Plague).

We should do what we can to ready ourselves for the threat and perhaps lessen the danger. But we cannot eliminate it (not in a short period of time, anyway). At some point, we either » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 10:06 pm No Comments Yet / Leave a Comment

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

◊ Pandemic Reflections

Current Affairs ... Society ...

I’ve pretty much ignored my blog for the past month. And yes, it has everything to do with the COVID epidemic. Not that I got sick — not so far anyway, thank goodness! Nonetheless, I’ve joined the ranks of the homebound. I’m not an essential employee (it’s times like this when you find out where you really stand!), so on March 20 my employer ordered me to work from home until further notice. They seem to be paying me for that, even though I’m not doing a whole lot from home. I send in an e-mail every day to let them know that I’m monitoring my work e-mail and will answer the phone for whoever calls. But not many people have been calling or writing. So I’m left with some free time (although there are still official things I do from home, given that I can link into my office’s computer system – they gave me a computer with a VPN drive). But I’m not making the best use of it, admittedly.

To be honest, I’m finding the COVID lockdown experience very disorienting, rather confusing. But, so are millions of others, or so I hear. Life is always changing and uncertain, but this situation has kicked the change and uncertainty levels up a few notches. Admittedly, I’ve got it a whole lot better than so many others, who don’t know how they are going to pay their next electric bill. My own financial situation does not seem immediately threatened, thank goodness. As to my health and my chances of catching the virus and having serious respiratory symptoms — well, I’m hoping that the further we get into this epidemic, the lower my chances are of getting it. But who really knows – that’s what uncertainty is all about.

For now, I’m just going to share a few not-so-profound thoughts or observations that I’ve had about what the virus is doing to the world around me. There are thousands of writers and commentators who are writing and speaking thousands of observations, about what has been happening and where things are going with regard to the many different aspects of our society — e.g. the economy, politics, government, international affairs, sports, art, religion, entertainment, travel . . . it’s amazing just how broadly a pandemic affects human society. Too much to talk about! But I’m gonna talk about a few inconsequential things anyway. » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 8:59 pm Read Comments (2) / Leave a Comment

Saturday, March 21, 2020

◊ Daffodil Dejection

Current Affairs ... Photo ...

Spring has arrived here in the suburbs, and the flowers and green leaves are returning. Daffodils are usually the first big wave of the tide that brings the return of daylight, color and comfortable weather, a tide that heralds the end of winter. And yet, this particular spring equinox seems very muted and even a bit melancholy, quite uncharacteristically.

We now have to deal with the recent arrival of COVID-19 and a lot of unanticipated changes to our lives because of it. This disease is a real threat to the survival of many people; unfortunately, our national leadership did not do enough up front to contain its spread (as the South Koreans appear to have done), despite at least 6 weeks of warning. We now need to change our lives and our means of survival in order to limit the possible loss of life.

I myself intend to fully comply with the various directives and restrictions and practical changes that the COVID-19 contagion now requires. But like so many of us, I regret the prospect of so much economic shutdown and social isolation. So many things have been cancelled, hopefully only temporarily — although it will be many weeks and possibly even months before life as we know it can return. It almost seems as if the Spring season itself has been cancelled (or greatly delayed).

It almost seems as if these newly sprung daffodils know what is happening amidst their human admirers, and share the somber mood, despite their usual sunny disposition.

◊ posted by Jim G @ 12:01 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Thursday, March 5, 2020

◊ Joe Biden as Rocky and Churchill?

Current Affairs ... Politics ...

Back on March 26, 2019, just about 1 year ago, I posted a blog discussing the upcoming Democratic Presidential primary season, which we are now in the middle of. Although my essay was long winded and rambling as usual, it was based around a prediction. I predicted that despite all of the candidates who entered the field, the Democratic primaries would come down to a choice between two main themes represented by two main candidates. Here’s a quote:

On the Democratic side, there is a plethora of potential candidates at this point . . . However, it all really sums up to a digital choice: Bernie (or younger reasonable facsimile) or Joe (or younger reasonable facsimile).

Well, not bad, if I do say so myself! The only thing I got wrong was to leave open the possibility that some of the younger and fresher faces would break through and push the old geezers like Sanders and Biden aside. For whatever reason, the progressive Democratic Party decided that for 2020, old white male Baby Boomers still rule!

I also had some new thoughts on Joe Biden today — let me share them here:

I’m an old man, gonna be 67 in a few weeks, so I feel for Joe and all of his old-man bumbling. (Although, even when he was middle aged, he still bumbled more than his share). From a personal perspective, I’d like to think that some of his frequent bumbling and forgetting names and places over the past few months has been from old-man depression. Ya know, you’re older now, maybe you’re not taken so seriously anymore. You feel like you’re not really needed anymore, you can no longer play in the big leagues. So, go down to Florida and play in the retiree’s league » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 8:10 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

◊ ELECTORAL COLLEGE – The Center Cannot Hold?

Current Affairs ... Politics ...

We are coming up on another Presidental election, and just like last time (2016), the final outcome may be close. We could have another situation where the popular vote count differs from the results of the Electoral College, as happened in 2016 and 2000. There were two other elections where this happened, but they were a long time ago, namely 1876 and 1888. In 1876, Democrat Sam Tilden won the popular vote, but Republican Rutherford Hayes won the College. In ’88, President Grover Cleveland, a Democratic, ran for a second term and won the popular vote while losing the College to Benjamin Harrison. (PS, Cleveland was a Jersey boy, hailing from Caldwell. His home is an historic site, just a few miles from where I live).

In all 4 of these elections, the Democratic candidate has been the aggrieved party. So, it’s not surprising that the Dems are now raising a lot of dust about abolishing the Electoral College system that was put in place by the writers of the US Constitution back in 1788. A recent poll (March 2019) indicated that 60% of Democratic voters want the College eliminated in favor of a straight majority vote. Not surprisingly, 64% of Republican voters wish to keep it. Among people calling themselves independents, 46% wanted to abolish the College, while 32% want to keep it.

There are plenty of arguments both for and against the College, but what it comes down to is the old Constitutional doctrine of State sovereignty and the limitation of Federal powers. The writers of the US Constitution, aware of the many political and economic abuses by the monarchies of Europe that go all the way back to the Roman Empire, worried about a federal government that would become too powerful. Their default philosophy was that » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 9:15 pm No Comments Yet / Leave a Comment

Monday, January 20, 2020

◊ Yes, It’s Harder for Women To Get Elected

Current Affairs ... Politics ... Society ...

I recently had a “change of heart” about how much voter sexism is out there amidst the voters, especially those most likely to vote in a Presidential election. A long-time friend of mine who happens to be female concluded shortly after the 2016 election that Hillary Clinton lost to Trump mainly because of an anti-female bias amidst the voting populace (mainly in men, but also in women to some degree). I disagreed with my friend regarding the word “mainly” or “primarily”. While I did not deny that there is an anti-female bias in some voters (perhaps too many voters), there were a wide variety of other, more significant factors that combined behind Donald Trump’s surprise victory.

But based on recent trends in the 2020 Democratic primary race, I am ready to move a bit closer to my friend’s position. I am now ready to admit that voter sexism, at least in some groups, is stronger than I thought. And I am also willing to admit that the groups where an anti-female bias might be significant are positioned in areas that have a greater say in the outcome of a Presidential election, due to the quirks of our Constitutional system for electing a President, i.e. the Electoral College system. Looking back to 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote — so on that level, sexist bias is not an impossible hurdle. But in those key “swing states” that the Electoral College system was and still is biased towards (especially Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin), the fact that Hillary was a woman probably created just enough of a negative bias so as to tip the popular vote totals in those states narrowly against her, causing the Electoral College to give the Presidency to Trump.

As a footnote at this point, remember that in 2004, John Kerry didn’t do too well in those states either. But he did win Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. Had Hillary repeated Kerry’s performance in those states, she would be President right now. Still, it is difficult to say based on that alone that sexism was the key cause for the difference. One would need to add in the fact that Hillary made mistakes » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 4:07 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

◊ Not Easy To Talk With Partisan Republicans!

Current Affairs ... Politics ...

Many political observers today talk regretfully the growing polarization occurring amidst the American populace. A lot of people are still rather apathetic about politics, but for those who do take an interest, they often become quite vehement about the leaders, candidates and political party that they support. There is evidence that more and more families have cut holiday dinners and family get-togethers short in recent years so as to avoid political arguments from breaking out.

Some pundits encourage those of us with political opinions and interests to engage people with opposite views, so as to maintain the ability to exchange views respectfully even though everyone retains their own opinions. The Aspen Institute even has a “Better Arguments Project” to encourage such conversations.

At my place of work, I regularly discuss politics with one of the attorneys. My workmate is an intelligent Republican conservative. He was not particularly thrilled by Donald Trump during the 2016 GOP primaries. However, since Trump’s election, he got on board the Trump train and has been an ardent supporter of the President, and a vehement critic of the Democrats. For most of my life I considered myself a Democrat, although in recent years I find myself taking a more centrist and independent position on many issues. However, I still sympathize with much of what the Democratic Party supports, even if I often disagree with » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 11:35 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Saturday, August 17, 2019

◊ Climate Change – Long Run Implications

Current Affairs ... Science ... Society ...

My Zen meditation group often uses a portion of its weekly sitting period to discuss a selected passage from a book that relates to Zen practice. I’ve been attending these weekly sittings now for almost 10 years, and at first I would diligently read the assigned piece and arrive ready to discuss it. But after a while, the book chapters seemed to blur together and the discussions become more and more anodyne. Most of the time, the discussions become something of a psychotherapy group session, and I usually find myself tuning out.

However, this past Sunday morning, one of the long-time sangha members said something that caught my attention. This person confessed that he sometimes wonders whether the human race is on its way to extinction due to its failure to adequately address climate change. His comment really didn’t have anything to do with the reading; it was just a feeling that this fellow wanted to share with the group, a feeling of bewilderment and regret and disappointment. Well, that’s the kind of stuff that gets shared during therapy group sessions!

But it struck me that he was enumerating an idea that has gained popularity of late amidst the liberal educated elite. Not long ago, a think tank report from an Australian policy group called “Breakthrough Center for Climate Restoration” suggested that climate change “threatens the premature extinction of Earth-originating intelligent life”. “David Spratt and Ian Dunlop have laid bare the unvarnished truth about the desperate situation humans, and our planet, are in, painting a disturbing picture of the real possibility that human life on earth may be on the way to extinction, in the most horrible way”.

Not surprisingly, this report “went viral” on Facebook and regular media, because it uses 2050 as a benchmark for much of its analysis. As a result, a currently trending “meme” is that climate change will wipe out human-kind by 2050. » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 9:11 pm Read Comments (2) / Leave a Comment

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