It's Census Time

This was the best book I read in 2022.

Poem of the Week

Powerful

I love the exchange on the Bible’s book of Exodus. Dennis Prager has studied and analyzed the Old Testament for decades and has insights that blew me away. I suppose that shows that I have a shallow understanding of Exodus, but I do want to learn more and this was a great first step.

We’re fortunate to have Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks. Thank God they weren’t destroyed by fire or flood in the 500 some years ago. However, we don’t have a diary or narrative of da Vinci (1452 – 1519) so biographer Walter Isaacson can’t be expected to provide with certainty the details he presented to readers of his Steve Jobs or Einstein books. It’s not that we don’t learn about Leonardo’s…

The Enemy of the People

Premise: A scientist discovers that the waters of the baths, which pull people to travel to a village, are polluted and cause illness. He wants the town to spread the news, acknowledge the problem and fix it. Naively, he expects to be hailed as hero, but instead he’s loathed as the “enemy of the people.” My take: This play is extremely preachy and the characters seem wooden. Writers like Emile…

What a lively discussion! I learned a lot about Exodus from Dennis and Michael. I enjoyed that two people of different faiths can discuss Exodus and share their insights.

Peter Schweizer’s Red Handed

Peter Schweizer’s Red-Handed, How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win explains how powerful government, business and academic leaders cash in with big pay offs from China. I already knew about many of the examples, like the NBA, the Bushes, Mitch McConnell and the Bidens. I also knew that American colleges will sweep problems under the rug to continue lucrative deals with China. (I could…

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower

Rumer Godden’s Miss Happiness and Miss Flower introduces young readers to Japanese culture. The short novel focuses on Nona, a British girl who was born in India and whose father has sent her to live with relatives and get an education. Living with her aunt, uncle and three cousins, Nona feels lonely and out of place as a newcomer. The traffic, school, her natural introversion and her bratty…

Bantam Rahman’s The Library Bus tells the simple story of Pari, an Afghan girl who’s about 5 years old. Pari’s mother drives a bookmobile to villages and refugee camps where girls have no schools. It’s a cute story to introduce children to Afghanistan, but I’d like more character development. Even small children have distinct personalities. The story with its charming illustrations is worth a…

I never read Ayn Rand, but she’s well known and I feel I’ve heard so much about her so I should check out Atlas Shrugged. I’ve got a long TBR list so it won’t be right away. Till then I’ll watch Michael Knowles and Eric Daniels.

In False Alarm! How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor and Fails to Fix the Planet, Bjørn Lomborg describes the problems and misinformation surrounding many of the climate change strategies, such as the Green New Deal. Throughout the book Lomborg used solid data from the UN,  From the start Lomborg states that the climate is changing. We do have a problem, however he…

Poem of the Week

A poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, whose birthday is today.