The proverb “Vox populi, vox Dei” – “The voice of the people [is] the voice of God” – can be traced back to the eighth century, though earlier origins are probable. Yet the eighth-century version, considered in its entirety, actually meant the opposite of what most people think today. In a 798 A.D. letter to…
A Reuters exclusive posted by journalist Jim Wolf, “Orbital Solar Power Plants Touted for Energy Needs” http://blogs.reuters.com/jim-wolf, describes a fantasy project with the potential to provide civilization with energy for centuries to come. Indian and U.S. space scientists propose that power plants be placed in orbit to collect solar energy and beam it to Earth….
More effective national leadership and better weapons systems are less likely to assure the future of our nation than is the resurrection of chores. Chores are a voluntary cost-free resource for upgrading America. Chores Matter Chores are one of the most important chapters in the encyclopedia of parenting. Vital training is absent when a child’s…
Billions of people confidently declare that God is their leader. Then what happens? Those billions of people make trillions of personal decisions every day. These self-leadership decisions are defining the future of civilization. Men Still Rule
Fear comes alive on Halloween. Halloween costumes are practical technology designed to simplify our joking about frightening subjects. The ghosts and the goblins are the outside joke. The inside joke is death. Halloween is the night when death walks around our neighborhoods dressed like a common Joe as if to remind us of its inevitability….
Occupy Wall Street demonstrators camping out on private property arouse the ire of many who believe they should make their point and go home. “What’s their point?” is one charge leveled against these demonstrators. Responses pointing to corporate greed and the excessive influence of lobbyists seem more complaint than plan. Bonus Marchers This is an…
In the 1980 musical comedy film classic “The Blues Brothers,” “Joliet” Jake and Elwood Blues are on a “mission from God” to save a Catholic orphanage. A woman stands in their way and threatens to destroy them. She says: “You miserable slug! You think you can talk your way out of this? You betrayed me.”…
In 1875 the United States Supreme Court ruled that the federal government is responsible for regulating immigration. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower urgently empowered the Immigration and Naturalization Service to “remove illegal immigrants, mostly Mexican nationals, from the southwestern United States.” The expulsion program’s official name was Operation Wetback. Border patrol, state and local…
The doomsday prophet Harold Camping recently revised his prediction. Camping now predicts October 21 2011 will be humanity’s last day. What’s comforting about this update is that “The end is going to come very quietly, probably within the next month….Probably… there will be no pain suffered by anyone because of their rebellion against God. Unbelievers might just…
Weapons drones with names like Predator and Reaper are now actively engaged in combat. A recent article in The Economist suggests that the “next generation of drones will have artificial intelligence giving them a high degree of operational autonomy including – if legal and ethical questions can be resolved – the [self-contained?] ability to shoot…