Posted inCurrent affairs

If democracy is worth fighting for in Ukraine, it is in the USA

It's too early to tell how Putin's invasion of Ukraine is going to turn out. Currently a 40-mile long Russian military convoy is making its way toward Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. Tough times lie ahead for the people of Ukraine, who have been fighting bravely against the stronger Russian forces. But one thing is certain. The freedom-loving world has been inspired by the fierce determination of Ukrainians to preserve their democracy.  Strong sanctions against Russia have been supported by most European nations, even including usually neutral Switzerland, which has frozen the accounts of Russian oligarchs and others targeted by the…
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Posted inGrowing older Salem

I’m an old man who wears purple

It was a good day for me to wear purple. But I didn't know that when I chose a jacket to wear on a decidedly cold February day here in Salem, Oregon. It felt like a Patagonia jacket day. I have quite a few colors. Green, orange, black, blue, gray, and my very first Patagonia jacket, a purple one that I got for half price, probably because Patagonia had figured out that not many men wear purple. I like the jacket. I like purple. However, the first time I wore it to my Tai Chi class, someone said, "You're brave," because…
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Posted inCoronavirus

Covid is declining, but these tweets show the danger of relaxing too soon

For about a week I've been collecting Twitter tweets from people knowledgeable about the current state of the Covid crisis. Most of them deal with the danger of relaxing public health measures too soon. Denmark did away with all restrictions, and now is paying the price in deaths and cases. Below you'll find screenshots of my carefully curated tweet collection. Most recent are shown first. The top tweet from yesterday has some possible good news for those of us in Oregon. Schmidt is referring to the fact that Governor Brown has announced that the indoor mask requirement in public spaces will…
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Posted inCoronavirus Current affairs

Protests against vaccines and masks are super selfish

Tonight we had a meeting of the monthly Salon discussion group my wife and I are a part of. We met via Zoom because even though some in the group, including Laurel and me, are fine with meeting in-person, others aren't. So we do our best to accommodate those who are most wary of coming down with Covid, even though everybody in the group is fully vaccinated and boosted.  This is called being reasonable. Also, unselfish. Doing what you want only is justified if that action isn't going to harm other people.  I'd like to believe that most people feel…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Health

MDMA research shows war on drugs is absurd

Sadly, I've never tried MDMA, otherwise known as Ecstasy or Molly. If I had, maybe I wouldn't have said sadly, since MDMA is a feel-good drug due to its ability to induce a massive release of serotonin, creating a feeling of well-being, love, joy. In his book, "Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion," Sam Harris describes an experience he had at the age of 19, taking MDMA with a friend in 1987. The setting of our experience bore little resemblance to the conditions of Dionysian abandon under which MDMA is now often consumed. We were alone in a…
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