Society Archives - Page 19 of 19

Happy Birthday, America!

By Bill Clontz July 5, 2018 July 4, 2018 9 Comments

Today is the United States of America’s 242nd birthday. Much is not well on this occasion, but let’s take a moment on this day in particular to celebrate much that deserves our attention and offers us some reassurance.

For the first time since they began asking the question, a major poll found that there is not much of a majority of Americans that are proud to be Americans. Even among those who remain proud, a majority is “not proud of America as it stands today.”

Still, there is much to celebrate on this day. This is a democracy well into its third century,

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July 1st is One Busy Day in History

By Bill Clontz July 1, 2018 Leave a Comment

More than most calendar days, it seems like a LOT happened in this date throughout history.

Thanks to the This Day in History site and other assorted sources , we note the following events among those that took place on JUL 1:

1798 – Napoleon Bonaparte captures Alexandria, Egypt. People named Napoleon probably should stay focused on places other than Russia…

1804 – George Sand is born. Still great reading!

1838 – Charles Darwin presents a paper on the theory of evolution to the Linnean Society in London.

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How About a Little Good News and a Laugh or Two?

By Bill Clontz July 4, 2018 June 30, 2018 Leave a Comment

In the midst of justifiable gloom, there is no small amount of good news in the land.

The US Congress is About as Popular as a Recurring Infection- and Still Sinking Ever Lower

By Bill Clontz July 4, 2018 June 27, 2018 6 Comments

Electoral reform is now essential. Here are the options.

Left-Handed Presidents and Wine Grapes

By Bill Clontz July 4, 2018 June 25, 2018 2 Comments

Challenge Often Brings Strength – Beware the Easy Choice

While attending a wine dinner recently, the sommelier expounded about the conditions in which the grapes that produced the wine we were enjoying that evening.

One group was grown in dry, chalky soil and the other in soil with heavy clay properties. In other words, not very good conditions by standard agricultural standards.

It is a story I heard often while living in California and in France – the vine needs to be challenged a bit, to suffer and overcome some challenges to produce wine of great character.

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What Have We Learned – So Far – from the Zero Tolerance Policy?

By Bill Clontz August 9, 2018 June 22, 2018 2 Comments

Some lessons clearly jump out – and some old ones are reinforced

There is a key phrase in the title above – “so far.” This sorry saga is far from over; some hard lessons are surely to come for just about everyone. But some useful lessons have already arrived. Let’s look at a few of them.

Grass Roots Resistance has Power:Let’s not kid ourselves. While the executive order is indeed a reversal, it creates new problems and uncertainties, and leaves some old ones in place. But there is little doubt that sustained and spreading repulsion stopped the advancement of a singularly ill-conceived approach.

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The Mountain Chat

By Bill Clontz June 4, 2018 4 Comments

Lessons Learned in a New Home Town

About a year ago, we made the great and wise decision to move to Asheville, NC, in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains. It’s a decision we have celebrated every day since moving – the mountains are a place apart, and people who live here know that.

Still, any relocation comes with surprises, challenges, and adaptations. We thought we knew this area pretty well, but upon becoming residents, we learned something new that would take on importance as we settled in.

I am referring to The Mountain Chat.

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Of Tribes, Truth, and Our Country

By Bill Clontz June 20, 2018 June 1, 2018 Leave a Comment

We have some decisions to make about how we connect with our fellow Americans.

The 21st century has, so far, harshly demonstrated to us the fragility of democracy.

The train wreck that is the Republican Party of today and the Trump presidency, both built on fear, resentment, and a wholesale dismissal of facts as just one of many approaches to life, has been coming for a while; they did not start just last year.

And so, one of the big questions is:

How does this situation get corrected; or does it?

Join the discussion at: Of Tribes, Truth, and Our Country