About half of Shandong is a mountainous peninsula that sticks out into the East China Sea, dividing it into the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Gulf. But a considerable portion of it projects into the great plain to the west. […]
Miscellaneous
Our China Journey, Part IV – Henan, The Center of the Universe
We bundled our luggage into a van and got on a train and headed for Luoyang, Henan, a place which has frequently been the capital of China, though a bit of a backwater now. Here were a number of things […]
Our China Journey, Part III – Xi’an and Yan’an
From Nanjing we got on a plane and flew 600 miles to the northwest to Xi’an, Shaanxi. This city is now a second tier city about the size of Chicago, but during the Tang dynasty [618-907] it was Chang’an, the […]
Our China Journey, Part II – Shanghai and the Lower Yangtze Region
SHANGHAI We next flew to Shanghai, though the largest city in the country it is not in its core area historically Chinese. Shanghai was a small town until 1842, when just north of it two large concession enclaves were carved […]
Our China Journey, Part I – Singapore and Guangzhou
SINGAPORE David, Roberta, and I started our adventure in Singapore, which is a 75% Chinese city but was ruled by the British from 1818 to 1957 and after 1965 by the late great Lee Kwan Yew, who established English as […]
Our Adventure in Ethiopia
In March of 2015, our family and some friends took a 3½ week trip through Ethiopia, one of the most unusual of sub-Saharan African countries. Ethiopia is exceptional in two ways; It became a Christian culture in the 300s, whereas […]
Very Bad Taste Not A Reason To Forbid Anything: A Thought For 9/11, Nine Years Later
There has been quite a to-do about building an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan close to Ground Zero. I have to say I think the whole thing is in very bad taste. With one possible exception. The famous Sagrada Familia […]
Sympathy versus Empathy
I think I have finally figured out the distinction between ‘sympathy’ and ’empathy’, and why we have two words. ‘Sympathy’ is a much older word, and has been in use for centuries; ’empathy’ is a fairly new one, becoming fashionable […]
How Michael Dell Ruined My Vacation
For seventeen years my wife and I have been going to the Four Seasons Hualalai, on Hawaii Island [known as the Big Island] for a month every winter. The beach in front of it is full of lava rock and […]
The Virtues And Vices Of Daffodil Season
Between winter and spring intervenes, in many areas, the Daffodil Season. Here in Michigan, it is St George’s Day, April 23, as I write this, and the ground has turned green and the daffodils are out in force, but the […]