Vladimir Horowitz was a one of a kind performer piano virtuoso who in his stage life received adulation rarely seen from the typically staid classical music audience. It was borne of his rare pyrotechnic technique filled with booming rushes of volume and transcendent and delicately displayed motifs that never ceased to enthrall and conquer the listener. His musical life bridged the Continue Reading
Two stories occurring thousands of miles apart this past week point out some painful realities in the ongoing clash of western and islamic culture. The first is the harrowing story of the murder of ten healthcare workers by the Taliban in a remote part of Afghanistan last week, the second the controversy of building an Islamic mosque within sight Continue Reading
We are experiencing in this major league baseball season of 2010 a return to dominance of the pitcher after 20 years of offense driven baseball. Magnificent pitching performances have been the norm, with several no -hitters including a perfect game as well as a perfect game taken away on an umpire error returning the game to some semblance of Continue Reading
Sixty five years ago, on August 6, 1945, the power of the universe was revealed for all to see, and for all to be in awe. At 8:15am at 1900 feet above the quiet port city of Hiroshima, Japan , an explosive cap drove 9 projectile cylinders of Uranium 235 down a gun barrel into a waiting target of 6 Uranium 235 rings. In Continue Reading
The United States is approaching thirty years of direct and tumultuous involvement in the dangerous and tortuous politics of the Arab World. President Reagan’s catastrophic 1982 decision to directly engage US Marines in force separation and peace keeping activities in attempting to bring a ceasefire in Lebanon’s murderous Christian Muslim civil war resulted in the largest single day loss Continue Reading
The news of the week is the considered U.S. House of Representatives trial on ethics charges of Charles Rangel (D) of the 15th District of New York. It seems Mr. Rangel is accused of the famous old crime of using U.S mailing privileges for private concerns, running multiple rent control apartments in abeyance of the law, failing to report Continue Reading
Stringed instruments have played a profound role in the musical expressions of western civilization’s development. The vibration of the taunt string to create a musical note is delivered by sliding over the string with a bow, plucking the string, or hammering it. The stringed instrument as the focus of the composer’s musical vision took many forms by the 17th Continue Reading
Switzerland is a small country in a sea of much larger countries on the European continent. One doesn’t associate it with typically boastful patriotism; it has prided itself on an outwardly neutral posture on the world stage, which has served its independence well. Regardless, it is my familial homeland, and on this day of August 1, a quiet boastfulness is Continue Reading
I have participated in many great drives over the last twenty five years that have expanded dramatically my sense of country. One of my particular favorites is the stretch of California Highway 1 which prominently clings to the shore line and presents with some of the most beautiful and spiritual vistas in America. The thirty some miles running Continue Reading
The Congressional Budget Office is an independent non-partisan agency enacted by congress to help estimate the effect of laws on national revenue, review the budget process, and help make projections on the national debt. Earlier this week the CBO released their economic and budget issue brief, Federal Debt and the Risk of a Fiscal Crisis , and the Monster in the Continue Reading