Living In Interesting Times

The first time I encountered the expression, May you live in interesting times, it was attributed to Robert Kennedy, who had supposedly called it an “Ancient Chinese curse.” The idea is/was that the kinds of events that make times interesting are usually unpleasant: wars, famines, earthquakes, serious storms, and so on. A headline to the effect of “Neighbors fight to the death over a petunia patch” will create more interest than one stating, “Neighbors cooperate to raise petunias.” An old saying in the newspaper industry (and radio, TV and Internet news as well) is, If it bleeds, it leads.

It . . . → Read More: Living In Interesting Times

Future History

I borrow my title from one of my favorite science fiction authors, Robert Heinlein, whose books captivated me during my adolescence. A number of them have been made into movies (including The Puppet Masters, Starship Troopers, and . . . → Read More: Future History

2018 Ready or Not

Last year, 2017, ended not with a bang, but a whimper. While how the current year, 2018, will end is still unknown, the world in general and the U.S. in particular, are not on a good trajectory. While some countries are doing reasonably well, most are not. Even in the States, the microcosm of individuals and places doing well, doesn’t change the macrocosm. I am not worried about the planet as a whole. Earth has survived mass extinctions in the past, and life has continued. The life forms, however, changed. It is as though the planet was saying, “Well that . . . → Read More: 2018 Ready or Not

Hearing and Health

In my continuing quest for improved hearing, I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Jenny Rymer, an ND (Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine) in Jackson, Michigan, which is about an hour east of my home. My co-author, Debra Basham, and I had met Jenny previously at meetings of the International College of Integrative Medicine, and at a recent meeting in Columbus, Ohio, I asked her whether she might be able to do anything that would help improve my hearing. She said that she had a number of things she could do, so not long after I returned to Kalamazoo, I scheduled an . . . → Read More: Hearing and Health