Saturday, July 30

            Accept the journey.

Friday, July 29

            Knowledge can create illusion.  Example:  I see the ground around me, therefore the earth must be flat.

            In a related way, our brain cannot picture an apple and an orange without one of them being to the other side of the other, we can only describe that impossible physical state where neither is to the right or left of the other.

            Language helps us think because it can transcend the physical world.  

That is why I always found language and writing so spiritual because it allows us to formulate ideas then share them.

Thursday, July 28

            It seems to me that there is more lying going on, more than ever.  To the point where people have almost come to expect that they will be lied to and then the process of discovery and apology kicks in.  I see this pattern a lot now with public figures.  It probably was triggered by Watergate then Monicagate, in terms of on the national scale.  Interpersonally, the speed of communication and social networking almost seems to encourage half-truths, omissions, misinformation and complete fabrication.  Someday, the only place to find truth may be in novels.

                                                  Wednesday, July 27

I recently came across two finds during my used book hunts.  Daniel J. Boorstin’s, The Discovers and The Creators, each were a dollar!  While paying for the second one, the cashier said she had been on a cruise with him and his wife when they were aboard lecturing on American history.  She got to know them pretty well as she was the Speaker Coordinator.  Boorstin has one of my favorite bios of which I am envious:  Harvard graduate with highest honors; Yale doctorate; Oxford Rhodes Scholar; admitted as a barrister-at-law in London and member of the Massachusetts bar; a visiting professor at the University of Rome; …wait for it, yes, Paris is next… the first incumbent of a chair in American history at the Sorbonne; and Librarian of Congress.

Tuesday, July 26

            I enjoyed more stories today from my daughter about her day at the ranch.  I am getting to know the horses by name as she describes  how:  Shade is being treated for cancer; Rod is being exercised as he was kept in a barn and so his strength needs to be built back up; Freckles is called Merry Legs because she looks like the horse of that name from the movie Black Beauty; Patch needed another bath today as he rolled in his barn immediately after just getting washed and covered himself in wood chips; Bailey is new and just arrived; and Patch is a little bit of a bully.  Also, today, the dentist came to check the horses’ teeth.

Monday, July 25

            Two forms of symbolic logic are:

“true-or-false”; and

“all-or-none” – classes of ideas(elements) that contain either all elements or none of the elements.

Sunday, July 24

            The 21^st day of 100 degree temperatures and reports are that around the city water pipes and sprinkler systems are leaking as the ground’s dryness causes buckling and breaking much as it is doing to roads where pot holes are developing as the ground under the asphalt dries and buckles the concrete.  We discovered a leak in our own sprinkler system on Friday.

Saturday, July 23

            The twentieth day of 100 degree temperatures finds my wife and me beating the heat with a stiff frozen margarita at our favorite neighborhood Mexican restaurant.  We normally sit outside in their patio taking in the view of the swans by the pond, but tonight we enjoy the air conditioning inside and order chips and salsa, plus fajitas for dinner.

Friday, July 22

            I enjoy the updates from my daughter about her days at the therapeutic horse riding ranch where she is volunteering this summer.  It’s great hearing about the arrival of new horses; the work of the blacksmiths to shoe the horses; the visits of the Veterinarian; washing; feeding; and mucking stalls.  She also recounts which horses get along with who, which horses have particular ailments or are “retired.”  The riders are young children with physical, mental or emotional challenges.  The ranch is called ManeGait in McKinney, Texas.

Wednesday, July 20

Brooksley Born (former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission who warned about the dangers of derivatives as early as the mid-1990s) and Sheila Bair (former chairwoman of the FDIC who recommended Bear Stearns be allowed to fail) were both labeled as “difficult” and “not team players”.  To date, the FDIC is the only federal agency to bring suit against bank directors for the derivative/mortgage scandal that precipitated the 2008 economic crash.

Thursday, July 21

            Physicist, Garrett Lisi believes he has come up with a mathematical formula that once proven will explain everything - that is, the elusive Theory of Everything (or how nature works) merging and explaining both cosmology and quantum mechanics where Einstein and Bohrs could not.

            Lisi uses a multi-dimensional model of the 228 particles known to man and combines the 246 symmetries that go with it.  Once 18 more particles are discovered the model and therefore the theory will be complete - proven.  (Not to be confused with the 118 currently known chemical elements.)

Tuesday, July 19

            Basic United States economic facts:

1)      U.S. spending has not increased in three years;

2)     However this year, spending will be 3.8 trillion, while revenue will be 2.2 trillion, a 1.6 trillion deficit;

3)     Making the total national debt of 15 trillion by September;

4)     43% of federal spending goes to Medicare/Medicaid(hard to reform due to health costs) and Social Security(easier to reform and make solvent with adjustment of consumer index), 12% for misc. social safety nets, 7% for federal employee benefits, 20 for Defense, 6% for debt interest and so there is currently only 12% to do everything else; and

5)     There are 1 trillion is tax credits and deductions each year which makes the tax code so complicated, so there is really no need to raise tax rates.

Monday, July 18

Two of the more powerful facts or ideas I have run across in a long time are:

1)      There are reportedly 4200 different faith groups or religions in the world; and

2)      There is believed to be more unconscious brain function and activity than conscious and our conscious thoughts are often so greatly influenced by natural selection, genes and environment as to be more automatic and reflexive than we are ever even aware of.  In other words, the amount of free will we think we have  may be over estimated or exaggerated and may need closer measurement in the future.

Sunday, July 17

Day 16 of 100 degree plus heat.  Evening lows are as high as the nineties.

Saturday, July 16

I do not think either party can take the high ground on the deficit/default debate.  The Democrats most recently went along with the renewal of the Bush tax breaks and passed the Healthcare Act, both may have been well intentioned by did decrease revenues and raise costs.  The Republicans most recently passed a prescription drug plan for seniors and prolonged two wars, again the intentions may have been good but the costs high.

Friday, July 15

            Eighteen days before the government potentially defaults on its payment obligations for the first time in its history.  Interesting that things have gotten to this point.

I am not quite sure why closing wasteful and unnecessary tax loopholes (which will generate more revenue) and cutting all the unnecessary spending (which will bring costs down) is seen by government leaders as so difficult.  Why does the debt ceiling have to be raised at all if the above is done?

The only options proposed by leaders seem odd:

1)      Raise the debt ceiling so we can spend even more; or

2)     Raise the debt ceiling and start making cuts that will balance the budget...eventually; or

3)     Raise the debt ceiling, make cuts but raise taxes so that the government can spend that money, too.

 Seems like we need a constitutional amendment that madates a balanced budget, flat tax system and term limits.

Thursday, July 14

            Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest play, ironic since it’s about procrastination.  It delves into how and when thoughts lead to action.  It explores self-consciousness.  It asks whether the afterlife is better than present life in its most famous lines, “to be or not to be”.

Wednesday, July 13

            Rice, beans and potatoes are major building blocks in world food consumption because they are relatively easy to grow, healthy and inexpensive.  One or more of them can provide the foundation for any meal.  Add other natural and direct sources of body fuel like vegetables, fruits and nuts, which need no additives, preservatives or processing and one has an easy to prepare meal.

          I wonder if the above is a recipe for a more sustainable(green) way to globally eat, especially if we do our own cooking?
          I remember first seeing in college someone eat rice at breakfast.  I went by to pick-up a fellow student teacher at the University of Michigan, School of Education, because I had a car I could borrow from my roommate and take us to our assignments at Huron High school in Ann Arbor.  When I walked into his kitchen he was finishing the rice from a bowl and about to put it in the dishwasher.  I made a joke about, "hey out of Captain Crunch" and he said to me very seriously, "if it's good enough for billions of Chinese, it's good enough for me."

Tuesday, July 12

            Copenhagen, Denmark will get all its city/public energy this year from the burning of its own trash.  1762 pounds of trash per person is generally generated a year there and rather than send it to landfills it sends it now to waste-to-energy-plants.  It is one of the most, if not the most, sustainable/green cities in the world with arguably the best bicycle culture, earning it the nickname Bike City for the public usage and public bike paths/trails.

Monday, 7/11/11

            Free 7.11 oz Slurpees at 7-Eleven in honor of their corporate anniversary.  Cherry.  Tenth day of 100 plus degrees.

Sunday, July 10

            Another great summer memory was going after Little League games to the A&W root beer store on Beech Daly just west of Ford Road back in home town Dearborn Heights.  One could get a frosty root beer served in a giant megaphone like container made of the kind of material milk cartons are made of.  So refreshing and novel.  The store is since gone and today’s A&W places don’t have those containers, though they do have a cool barrel one can go draw root beer from.

Saturday, July 9

            A couple of fun summer goodies are Mrs. Baird’s peach pies, in the individual packs you can get at convenience stores, plus Good Humor strawberry shortcake stick ice creams, especially when eating these treats while listening to a baseball game on the car radio, the summer sun setting in the mirror.

Friday, July 8

            I would like to teach a course someday called, American Studies – Political Thought & Behavior.  I would center the course on biographies and autobiographies, primarily, such as:

Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography;

Mark Twain’s, Life on the Mississippi;

The Education of Henry Adams,

Thomas Edison’s biography;

First Man, the Neil Armstrong story;

            And then I would supplement with the following writings:

James Madison’s notes at the Constitutional Convention;

The Federalist Papers;

Democracy in America, Alexis De Tocqueville;

Walden, Henry David Thoreau.

Thursday, July 7

            Dr. Miguel Sanchez Romera is a neurologist from Argentina who just opened, wait…not a clinic, but a restaurant in Manhattan called Romera New York.  Specializing in epilepsy and Alzheimer’s, Dr. Romera moonlighted as a chef while practicing medicine in Spain.  Critics have called his cuisine “neurogastonomy”.  Dr. Romera simply says that people eat with their brains not their stomachs, so he tries to create a holistic experience for all five senses.  Romera’s continued obsession with food while doing his hospital work eventually caused him and his wife to self-finance a restaurant for him to cook in called the L’Esguard.  His restaurant in New York is appropriately in the Dream Downtown hotel.

Wednesday, July 6

            If you have never treated yourself to viewing pictures of Brazil’s capital, Brasilia, then go online and see architect Oscar Niemeyer’s city carved out of a barren plateau half a century ago.  It is made up of 150 buildings created from scratch.  The interiors are just as stunning, including paintings by another great Brazilian artist, Roberto Burle Marx, also known for his landscape designs.  I visited his home and gardens in Rio de Janeiro.

Sunday, July 3

            I enjoy watching the Wimbledon tennis tournament from The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club during the July 4^th weekend, as a further reminder of America’s British heritage.

Monday, July 4

            I try to keep clear the difference between the songs:

America (“My country ‘tis of thee…”);

America the Beautiful (“O beautiful, for spacious skies….”); and

God Bless America (“land that I love….”).

Tuesday, July 5

            What a great long weekend of waving the flag; remembering veterans past and present; fireworks; hot dogs on the grill; apple pie; swimming; parades; and watching the concerts from Washington, D.C. and the Boston Pops.

Saturday, July 2

            Rosarians believe there are 30 different rose fragrances with the five favorites being:

Typhoo Tea – think grape Kool-Aid;

 Fragrant Cloud – more spicy than fruity;

Autumn Damask – popular with perfume makers because of the amount of essential oils it produces;

Rosa Centifolia – used in the Givenchy perfume Very Irresistible; and

Double Delight – think French-milled soap.

Friday, July 1

The Simple Path

The fruit of silence is prayer,

The fruit of prayer is faith,

The fruit of faith is love,

The fruit of love is service,

The fruit of service is peace.

Mother Teresa