Commentary

491 posts

What Comes After We Choose To Go To The Moon?

During the 1960s there were lots of little kids jumping into newly fallen snow and shouting “First Man On The Moon!” when their boots left a print. Little boys (and some liberated little girls) dreamed of and played at being astronauts. Even if children weren’t old (or sophisticated) enough to follow NASA’s doings, there was I Dream of Jeannie. Popular culture was drenched in all things space-age and planetary. The space program was in the air if you will. Being an astronaut was to a 1960s kid what being a cowboy was to a 1950s kid. Adventure, exploration, and glamour were all packaged into a very cool outfit. Astronauts, like cowboys, even had special food. They had belts that held their lifesaving apparatus. But they also had science. For a kid who loved rocks, or space, or climate, or chemistry, he/she too could dream of being a superhero.

Continue reading →

The G-OPP and The Radical Right’s Overton Window Push on Abortion

It’s no secret that the self-proclaimed Party of Liberty seems to take great interest these days in what happens in the realm of OPP-Other People’s (insert your usage for P here, we’ll go with ‘Pants’ in the name of decency). Whether it’s their stance on DADT, gay marriage or a women’s right to choose, the modern Republican Party really, really needs to know what’s going on down there, and put a hard stop to it if said goings-on fail their purity tests. Continue reading →

If I Never Would Have…

There are plenty of times in your life when there’s a fork in the road and you wonder “would would have happened if I went the other way?” I often wonder what my life would be like if I stayed in San Antonio for college instead of moving to New Orleans. I think I’d have continued to work in retail, continued living with my parents and generally, would not have learned how to exist on my own. Continue reading →

David Cronenberg at the NYSE

CBS News: Robert Pattinson kicked off his Tuesday ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange…accompanied by David Cronenberg, the director of his new film Cosmopolis. (Emphasis added.)

All eyes are upon him — blinking, widening, twitching. He approaches the raised podium and awaits the designated moment. There is a hush. Continue reading →

The Sikh Way of Life Can Teach Us a Thing or Two

Originally, I intended that this post be about the Sikh people, then about the beautiful principles taught in Sikhism and then about the founder Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh Guru.  Reading about all  has proven both enlightening and interesting. I was reminded of many valuable lessons.

For example, the monotheistic religion, founded almost 500 years ago, is the fifth largest organized religion in the world with over 30 million Sikhs worldwide.  The Sikh religious philosophy has been traditionally known as Gurmat (literally ‘wisdom of the Guru’). Devotion and remembrance of God at all times, truthful living, the denouncing of superstition and most importantly, equality of man-kind, are it’s key principles. The Sikh religion teaches respect to all other religions and that one should not only defend one’s religion, but the religious faith of others as a human right as well.  At the end of every Sikh prayer, there is a request for the welfare of all humanity. Continue reading →