Wonderful Matters

I found out about a new word the other day. Never heard of it before, and somewhere, I think it was on my Google page, there it was. Heuristics . Apparently this is the practice of joining with others to bat about some thought or idea or concept with the intention of arriving at a firm understanding of it. I mean, tell me if I'm wrong, but that's the idea I got. Came from the same Greek word that's in Archimedes' "Eureka!" What a totally cool thing to do! Heuristics. I must say I'm all over that. I revel in engaging others about vital issues, critical topics, all of that. Let's do it! The problem I have is when people don't want to do that. Sadly, at least what I've seen, very few truly want to do that. Oh many say they do, but they don't. When you get into the meat of something, most people get far too uncomfortable. It's not even that they don't want to do it, but get downright nasty for even venturing a bit too far into heuristi...

I enjoy browsing in bookstores, but I have a peculiar distaste for them because of this weird concoction of feelings I get every time I'm perusing the stacks. On one hand I see so many fine books I will never have time to engage, and on the other hand there is so much crap mixed in there that makes it quite daunting to distinguish the two. I usually leave with a heavy sigh on my breath. I shouldn't be so cynical. Some people put a lot of work into that crap, and that has to be commendable. Anything an individual says is worth noting one way or another, I'm sure. Even learning of the wretched things the World puts out can be edifying in some way. As I was peeking around at the newest offerings table, my attention was drawn to a title by Michael Lewis called The Real Price of Everything . I was even more intrigued when I went to pick it up and saw that it was quite the tome, weighing in at 1472 pages I saw on Amazon. Wow, I initially thought, what a masterpiece. This much of ...

In and around all the attention given to a seminal event--"Super Tuesday"-- in the long selection process for the next American Caesar, the news broke that actor Wesley Snipes was acquitted of major tax charges against him. Snipes tried to use the 861 argument to avoid paying taxes, and in response some mainstream anti-tax-protest pundits went into their typical hyperventilation mode to firmly remind us that we do indeed have tax liability. One of them was MSNBC’s John Schoen, who in his short piece dated February 3rd used the following adjectives and epithets to describe his conception of tax protestors and their movement: “delusional nonsense,” “comical collection,” “myth,” “non sequitur,” “misinformation,” “out of touch,” “crazies,” “kooky,” “ridiculous,” “absurd fairy tales,” “twisted,” “giant oak of nonsense,” “inanely creative theories,” “amusing,” “frivolous drivel,” “like-minded lunatics” I selectively pulled them from the piece to highlight the fact that I think he w...