 | Michael Wray November 13, 2023 |
The Dangers of Binary Thinking
The Death Of Nuance Of all the many memes that are circulating in response to the war in Gaza today, one of them that caught my greatest attention was the following: Yet it seems that there is no longer room for equivocation in today’s world of black and white responses to religious, social, moral, or political issues. You’re…
|
| Michael Wray June 9, 2023 |
The Poisoned Chalice
There was once a kingdom divided upon itself, where two dukes sought a coveted chalice. This chalice, said to possess magical powers, was believed to be the key to uniting their land and bringing prosperity and respect to their people. Little did they know that the chalice held a dark secret: the poison of insurmountable problems that could…
|
| Michael Wray June 10, 2022 |
The Sweet Spot
“If you’re sad today, just remember that the world is 4.4 billion years old and you somehow managed to live at the same time as David Bowie.” Simon Pegg Long Ago and Far Away My best friend and I often discuss how lucky we both were to have been born in 1960. We are united…
|
| Michael Wray May 26, 2022 |
America, Whither Goest Thou?
The Fall of Rome I’ve often wondered if the normal citizens of Rome realized that their civilization was on the verge of collapse before it finally came to pass. We’re told it was attacks by the Goths and Visigoths that precipitated Rome’s downfall but what if the mechanisms of state had their own demise hard wired into the…
|
| Michael Wray April 27, 2022 |
Overwhelmed
Interesting Times Most of us have heard the Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.” But I wonder if there has ever been a period of history when people weren’t living in interesting times. It is worth remembering that the grandparents of most Boomers lived through a savage epidemic, two world wars and a global depression. Nevertheless,…
|
| Michael Wray March 21, 2022 |
The Mainstream Media
The Problem In the past few years, news media outlets of all sorts have come under increased attack concerning their reliability. Viewers and readers of the news on both the left and the right accuse the other side of presenting “fake news” which increases our suspicion of what is actually real or not. Of course, a lot of…
|
| Michael Wray March 6, 2022 |
HAVE I BECOME “THAT” UNCLE?
Another Spoiled Thanksgiving A common trope of comedians these days is the cliché of “that” uncle, a close family member who spoils family get togethers with extremist, usually right-wing views. It doesn’t have to be an uncle though but could be any family member whose outpouring of raw, unfiltered, opinionated bullshit throws a monkey wrench into an ordinary…
|
| Michael Wray February 13, 2022 |
FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND CANCEL CULTURE
A Case of Poor Judgement It seems like not a day passes lately that we don’t hear a new example of how cancel culture is inhibiting the free exchange of ideas. Most recently, I learned of how Whoopi Goldberg had been censured by The View due to some misinformed statements she made regarding the Nazis’ view of race….
|
| Michael Wray January 4, 2022 |
Happy New Year?
Overwhelmed by Bad News I am generally a positive person; that is, I choose to be positive because it seems much healthier than the alternative of negativism. Nevertheless, I am not a Pollyanna and my positive outlook is tempered by a great respect for science and realism. So at the beginning of 2022, after enduring the past…
|
| Michael Wray November 14, 2021 |
THINKING ABOUT FOUNDATION
A Rush of Traffic I was on the balcony listening to the not too distant sound of Istanbul’s rush hour traffic going by, and started thinking about the multitudes of people being carried along, the energy of the vehicles themselves, and the many branches and interchanges of the highway. The traffic racing down the E5 was making an…