“One of the biggest roles of science fiction is to prepare people to accept the future without pain and to encourage a flexibility of the mind. Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.” – Arthur C. Clarke Translation: Greetings…
To Boldly Go…
September 4, 2025 I’ll admit it: I’m a Star Trek fan. But not a hardcore, “go to the conventions” style fan. Over the years, I’ve watched The Original Series (TOS), The Next Generation (TNG), a bit of Voyager, Discovery, and…
Soft Power: Hard Consequences
August 4, 2025 Recently, I penned an opinion piece in the Tulsa World on the ways in which America is throwing away one of its most cost-effective methods of persuasion on the world stage: soft power. The Tulsa World version…
My Summer Book Report: The Rediscovery of America
September 24, 2024 “The New World forgets everything The Old World forgets nothing.” I FINALLY finished my summer reading project. Whew. “The Rediscovery of America” by Yale professor Ned Blackhawk, is not a light, summer beach read. It’s a large,…
A lens into a more diverse place
You positively gotta love Canada. Besides the obvious, they seem to produce a lot of good, high-quality television that’s…nice. Very approachable shows that give us Americans a glimpse into their so much more diverse society. We’ve done a lot of…
Happy (Step-Grand) Father’s Day
For Father’s Day weekend this year, I bring you a pic of my step-grandfather, Joe Duran. This is his certificate of naturalization in 1944 and recently found in a safe deposit box, along with his original birth certificate. He was…
The United Colors of…Muskogee, 1967–78
Back in the Summer I sat with a visitor at my church, the adult chaperone of 15 Iraqi high school students who were touring parts of the U.S., learning about the various career choices that might be available to them. After…
Killer Clowns, Black Lives Matter and the Herd Mentality
Living in Tulsa recently has brought me face-to-face with how quickly we revert to the herd mentality, particularly when we find ourselves in an information-poor environment. With amazing speed we will tacitly accept “truth” from very tenuous sources, and spread…