Culture and PoliticsThis section is focused on the many issues of culture and politics. This includes a variety of cultural issues such as marriage and family as well as educational topics. The overriding theme is that freedom, rooted in unselfish ethics and the classical virtues, is the core attribute of human success. It is also the dividing line between the left and the right in politics. I do my best to not be divisive, because I truly believe that all humans are equal and incarnational children of the same parental God. At the same time, I feel that it's very important to stand up for the sacred freedoms that all humans are given by God. Thus, I think it's unavoidable that freedom-loving people should push back against political and cultural totalitarianism. Ultimately, one hopes that those individuals who support or pursue totalitarianism will change their hearts and minds and stand up for freedom as well. Creating an Idea-Friendly Culture~ Why we should ask for, and then listen to, everyone’s ideas. Listening to new ideas is surprisingly difficult for both leaders and followers. Members of a group may scorn an idea when it is presented by a fellow member, but enthusiastically endorse the same idea if it is presented by one of the leaders of the group whom they hold in high respect. Other ideas may get shot down until they are successful. Then, proverbially, people say that they supported the idea all along.
 moreComing Home to MaineOn September 10, 2007, we arrived at our winter rental in Windham, on Little Sebago Lake. It was raining and getting dark, but luckily some good friends arrived and emptied our twenty-six foot Penske truck in an hour and a half. It was quite astonishing, since it had taken two very tortuous days to fill it.
moreThe Mowgli FactorThe Mowgli Factor is the strange phenomenon that occurs when a child is partially or completely denied access to the thousands of years of culture, civilization, knowledge, ethics and spiritual teachings that have brought humankind forward to its relatively enlightened state.
moreA Basic Tool Kit for a Renaissance Life~ a proposal for a curriculum of creativity and imagination for children ~ I propose that schools everywhere adopt a very comprehensive program of creativity and imagination, from the earliest grades, that will provide every student with a Basic Tool Kit for a Renaissance Life. With training like this, I believe that children will leave behind the phenomenon of being stuck in cultural deserts with no vision, and instead gain a magnificent view of their own potential and capability to benefit the world.
moreA Rich Life of Joy and Beauty~ an alternative to philosophical and religious totalitarianism ~ One of the questions facing the world today is how to mesh the moral imperatives of religion with the rights of all individuals to pursue happiness in a free and democratic society.
moreLove, Democracy and the Survival of the WorldIs there any reason to hope that we, as individuals, can impact the world by walking the path of love? Can one person make a difference?
more"Dark Energy", A Clean Sky and Personal Flying VehiclesIn a previous column, “How Personal Flying Vehicles Will Change Society”, I wrote about the idea that personal flying vehicles could use some type of “antigravity” solution to stay aloft. This was based on my layman’s view (for I am not a scientist) that the first priority of a personal flying vehicle (PFV) is to not fall down and go “boom”.
moreLet's Sever the Decapitation ScenesAn examination of graphic violence in television and film. Now, in 2007, the graphic violence that is often a part of horror films and slasher movies seems to have taken root in mainstream television programs. Many movies that are not billed as horror movies have adopted extreme standards in their depictions of graphic violence.
moreLosing My Beard for John AdamsOn May 7, 2007, I went with three of our children and acted with them as extras at the "John Adams" mini-series shoot (Part 2), in Goochland, Virginia. I played a "Boston Towns Person". (Our fourth child, Tymon, was an extra in Part 1.) This page shows the absolutely horrible tongue in cheek trauma that I suffered, as I was *forced*!!! to shave my beard (after six years!) — since Boston Towns Persons didn't have beards. Drat them! Oh, the Tyranny of Fashion! Here, for your potential amusement, is the pictorial history of my dreadful loss. Who knows — perhaps one day I'll be an actor.
moreCreating BeautyMy mother once said to me, “It’s much harder to create beauty than it is to create ugliness.” She said this to me during the depths of my antisocial hippie dippie years, when I was seventeen and remarkably ignorant. I don’t remember what I had drawn, or written, but it must have been just south of putrid, for I offended her artistic sensibilities. For some reason, perhaps because she was an art teacher and my mother, I listened to her, and abandoned the project. I also have never forgotten what she said.
more  “The Epiphany of Zebediah Clump”
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