Election primaries are almost over in the several states, and in November we will have an important general election. All elections are important, of course, but I will be very interested to see the results of this one. As good citizens we have a right and a responsibility to vote, and I hope we exercise […]
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is situated just north of Washington, DC, in Bethesda, Maryland. It is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the primary government agency responsible for biomedical and public health research. It is the largest biomedical institution in the world. It addition to its […]
The subject of free trade is much in the news these days because of President Trump’s imposition of tariffs on certain Chinese products and the Chinese retaliation. Many observers are fearful of a full-blown trade war with China and other nations, with potentially devastating effects on the American economy. In 1955 I worked for a […]
Airline travel these days is quite an adventure. You usually must arrive at the airport about two hours early. You confirm your tickets, check your bags, and go through a security check. After that, you proceed to the gate from which your plane is to depart and take a seat in the waiting area. When […]
I remember the depressing words Shakespeare put into Macbeth’s mouth, “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creep through this petty place from day to day, and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.” Thank God that I do not feel that way. My life has been full of wonder and joy, and […]
Racial discrimination has been a real and continuing problem in our nation’s history. Much progress has been made, but it continues to occur more frequently than we like to admit. It is also true that people sometime play the “race card” unfairly. My first experience with that sort of incident took place more than five […]
Sexuality and the human sex drive is a very powerful thing, and sometimes heterosexual libido erupts in overt and ridiculous ways. I went off to college in 1947, long before the so-called sexual revolution of the 1960s-70s. There were female dorms and male dorms, and never the twain should meet. That was the theory, but […]
In medieval Europe the troubadours sang of the peerless Roland and of King Arthur and his table round, fearless warriors for truth and justice. Next to them stood beauteous maidens, virtuous virgins without flaw or blemish. In the early days of our republic an author named Parson Weems published readers for young children. In them […]
During the 1960s and 70s our family had many memorable camping experiences. In the summer of 1966 came the first of the family’s camping adventures. We put a trailer hitch on our car and rented a tent trailer. We stayed one night in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, our second night near Raleigh, and then seven […]
My eldest son, also nicknamed Sandy, was born while I was overseas in Korea. It is somewhat sad to think about it, but when Sandy Jr. graduated from high school in 1972 another war was raging, this time in Vietnam. Sandy had a low draft number, so he joined the Air Force shortly after his […]
Jordans-Journey 