Oppenheimer, a Personal Response

I actually got out and watched a movie in the theater on its opening weekend on Sunday. I hadn’t gone to movie theaters much for several years, but I made an exception for this one for several reasons. Many of the key events in the movie took place here in New Mexico. And much of…

Neo-Fascists, Semi-Fascists and Patriots

It’s hard to believe that it has been two years since I wrote something up for this blog. Justice for the instigators of the January 6 riot seems to be creeping up over the horizon. And a lot has happened in my personal life. But one thing that kept nagging me to write about it…

Condemning violence

On January 6, 2021, our nation witnessed an event nearly unprecedented in our history. A group of protestors, some of whom were armed and wearing military gear, knocked down barricades, drove back the Capitol police broke windows and forced their way into the capitol. Five people wound up dead including one of the defending policemen…

Covid-19: Donald trump’s final challenge

Four years ago when Donald Trump was elected president of the United States I was upset, but hoped that he would accept good advice and grow into the role. As part of that I remember thinking of a couple challenges for him to show that he could really do what he claimed he could. One…

Covid-19, A quick look at the numbers

As the coronavirus pandemic rages on in the U.S., a lot of claims get tossed out with very uncertain evidence to back them up. I saw a screenshot clip from one of my Facebook friends. I couldn’t find the source for that, but a search on the name I saw lead me to a website…

The Media are the messages, Part 1

It’s hard to believe but, even though Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore’s influential book https://smile.amazon.com/Medium-Massage-Marshall-McLuhan/dp/1584230703/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=marshall+mcluhan&qid=1591467817&s=books&sr=1-3 was published in 1969 when I was still in high school, I’ve been getting its name wrong all this time! I thought it was The Medium is the Message, but it’s actually The Medium is the Massage. I guess I…

Lies, Damned Lies, and covid-19

There is a well-known saying which Mark Twain popularized in Chapters from My Autobiography, published in the North American Review in 1907. “Figures often beguile me,” he wrote, “particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies,…

Donald trump and the challenge of leadership

I have wondered for some time whether the American political landscape was drifting to a system which favored an amateur over an experienced participant. The growth of negative campaign advertising makes it easy to spread the message of any mistake a candidate has made. Whereas someone new to the system has a clean slate and…

Fact-Checking the INF Withdrawal

This evening I watched President Trump’s State of the Union address with doubts and concern mixed with curiosity about just what he would choose to address. Major news organizations with far more time and resources than I have will be reviewing in detail over the next few days. However, I thought I would comment on…

Green Chile Potato Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients 5-6 medium russet potatoes, cut into ¼-1/2 inch cubes ½ tsp salt ½ medium onion, diced ½ Tbsp green chile powder (use other ground red chile if you can’t find this) ½ Tbsp ground garlic powder 1 can Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce 1 cup grated smoked cheddar cheese 1 cup grated white cheddar…