I was talking to some new citizens from eastern Europe…they were young, intelligent and knowledgeable. The poor educational system/culture in the US has given them a ripe field to work in.  I said that my 65 years has been a grandstand to watch the decline of the country. I am glad for them and theirs [...]

Every once in awhile, the book appears that appears to sum up the wide field  that with great diversity engages the mind and heart’s foundations. So two have fallen in my lap that seem as if the authors had been along side me, silent but concerned and now present me with a complicated response that [...]

There is the  makai Diamond Head room on the second floor of the Library of Hawaii main branch where I read my way into the Catholic Church 51 years ago. That was the room where they kept the religion books. That category has been moved but it is still a special place for me. There [...]

Well, after a lot of other commitments I return to my books. In the moldy goldy categories: Masscult and Midcult by Dwight Macdonald  republished by New York Review of Books. Norman Mailer respected Macdonald for his depth and contrariness. DM writes about the King James Bible and Hemingway, pop culture in its several colors, and [...]