Engaging Life with Courage and Intelligence
When countries are controlled by criminal enterprises
The Ultimate Fighting Championship will host an event on the White House lawn on July 4, 2026, to honor the sacrifices of founding fathers like George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and John Madison. The fights will be conducted inside an octagon-shaped metal chain-link fence. The cage will be about thirty feet in diameter and…
Instead of “firing up” or improving American capitalism, President Trump is firing or humbling America’s CEOs. Instead of continuing or improving the capitalism that energized America for 250 years, Trump is transforming it into some version of state capitalism. Wikipedia defines state capitalism as “An economic system in which the state acts as a dominant…
UPDATE ON AUGUST 12, 2025: When I posted this article, I was drawing attention to the fact that we have a delusional, unprepared man meeting with the most evil, dangerous man in the world. Little did I know that my “humor” would hit so close to the truth. Many will say Trump’s misstatements are simple…
The translation of the news flash in Spanish is “Dictatorships Do Not Function.” For anyone who believes that authoritarian regimes are good for anyone but the dictator and his family, there is a perfect example to bet against authoritarians. The BBC, NPR, Al Jazeera, and South Korea’s intelligence service—consistently cite an initial North Korean deployment…
America’s economy and society are at a critical juncture. Like an energetic bunny, America dominated the twentieth century. The American Puritans in the North and West used technology to industrialize, electrify, and computerize the country. The Southern Cavaliers provided most of the fossil fuels needed to energize our progress. The USA developed a diversified economy…
Hubris is the great sin of the tragic hero, the flaw that brings about their downfall. [Britannica] Origin of the word hubris: From the ancient Greek word hybris, which initially meant wanton violence, insolence, or outrage. Over 2,400 years ago, several playwrights, including Sophocles, wrote Greek tragedies about the catastrophic outcome resulting from excessive pride,…
Many of us, either continually or occasionally, regard the “strange” actions of others as being stupid, evil, or uninformed. There is no need to provide examples of “strange” actions since America is now so fractured that it would be harder to find examples of shared “solid” understandings. In light of the chaos in the public…
NOTE: I took the day off today. This blog post was generated almost entirely using artificial intelligence. Any errors, omissions, or political slights are not my fault. However, the AI included footnotes, which is more than I ever do. I used evato.com to generate the images. The landscape of U.S. immigration enforcement is undergoing a…
Artificial intelligence (AI) is not likely to cause the demise of the human race. Instead, AI-like humans are more likely to trigger our downfall. These AI-hybrid humans will not be half-human, half-machine cyborgs, as depicted in the movies. Instead, they will be fully human, driven by their burning desire to dominate others. They will not…
I hope my predictions of the future are wrong. Almost everyone except the very poor or the very rich plans for the future. Most of us need to plan and perform mundane activities, such as holding down a job, balancing our checking accounts, and keeping appointments. People who employ others must also be concerned with…