South East Asia is a region between the Indian and Pacific oceans.  It is comprised of eleven (11) countries - sovereign nations, starting as far north as Myanmar- not shown on the map, and trailing south and east to Indonesia; a combination of mainland as well as island nations.  Our Viking cruise started in Thailand - a mainland nation and proceeded south to Indonesia - a total of four (4) of ​separate nations and several provinces.  

We arrived in Bangkok on November 1st and proceeded to Port Laem Cha Bank to get on board the Viking liner.  A 90 minute ride, first through the city and then into the rural countryside, with a driver that, essentially spoke no English.  An interesting trip and fortunately uneventful - which was good. Our daily  excursions began in Thailand and for the next thirteen (13) days we were exposed to a collage of sights, sounds, smells - many of them pleasing and pleasant, other less so.  But that's later.  As of now we were underway.

The Founding fathers, in their infinite wisdom and diligence, envisioned the Supreme Court to be just that – SUPREME!  President Truman’s words “… the buck stops here…”, is an accurate statement and well-intended for how the Highest Court in the Nation was expected to function. 

The Supreme Court (SC) was designed to be a NON-PARTISAN organization, free of any/all political party affiliations and established primarily, if not solely, to judiciously interpret the Articles of the Constitution, as written by the Founders.  This perspective is reinforced by the fact that all positions, once attained, are for the remaining life span of the appointed individual.  Sadly, however, this tenet has gradually deteriorated over the years, but even more so over the past six (6) years, as political partisanship gradually infiltrated the group. Currently, SC justices are essentially (political) pawns, rather than the independent voice (to the nation) for constitutional interpretation, fairness and impartial legal leadership.

Our initial visit to Egypt - scheduled for October 2021 was summarily interrupted by the onset of Covid-19 in 2020.  All was canceled. Undeterred, we re-scheduled for November 2023, as all indications were that Covid would be significantly quelled by that time - and it was.  However, independent variables abound and 10 days prior to our sail date, Hamas attacked Israel in a surprised and vicious onslaught, killing and capturing an estimated 1400 unsuspecting Israeli villagers, many of whom were women and children.  We were again faced with the possibility of yet another cancellation; no one knew exactly what Israel's reprisal would look like but it was assured that one would occur.

That said, we eventually concluded that Egypt - a mere 600 plus Km's from the Israeli border, would ultimately not be impacted by any violence resulting from military operations; we moved forward with plans to depart on schedule.  On Wednesday afternoon - 3:30 PM, we landed in Cairo and our Viking Nile adventure was underway.

Donald Trump has been in the spotlight for approximately 55 years.  The son of a wealthy real estate entrepreneur, he had a great launching pad from which to spring.  A lot has been said about who he was/is, as a person, but even from the early days, family members presented him as selfish, self centered, egotistical and above all else, a consummate liar.  As portrayed, Trump would first determine what you needed/wanted to hear and simply say it. Throughout his 2015 campaign, Trump said repeatedly that he received $1 - 2 million from his father - a narrative that supported his being self-made;  turns out that his father funded Donald's initial business ventures, to the tune of over $500 million, over those early years.  He was also extremely good at lying expressly to avoid blame and/or responsibility.  The purpose of this blog is to objectively track Donald Trump's behavior and influence from the point at which he considered running for the office of POTUS, up through current events - as he sits, poised to face a deluge of indictments, all of which revolve around his abhorrent behavior as President. 

At age 70 and beyond, one will inevitably begin to question his/her mortality; for many, that process begins 20 to 30 years earlier.  Many, if not most people under the age of 25, do not consider religion a driving force in their lives - not unless their environment is steeped in the process and/or they are forced - actively or passively, into the system.  However, as one ages, the concept of mortality takes center stage, along with the realization that "we" will not live forever; that is downright scary, even though many will never admit that.  For centuries, religion - and for purposes of this text, I will focus primarily on Christianity; has maintained one clear but unstated objective, codified in one word, CONTROL.  The creators and proponents of religious dogma have developed and honed their message to drive "Fear of the Unknown" into the hearts of the unsuspecting and ignorant masses and, in so doing,  gain control of their lives - stem to stern. The consummate fear of spending eternity in HELL is the supreme motivator for religious conversion. The objective of this narrative is to explore the accuracy of these religious positions, to demonstrate how the established religious dialogue - written and spoken, is completely at odds with - a) the reality of life on earth; b) the human construct; c) any true and accurate knowledge of what follows after the body dies.   I will break my narrative into sections to support easy reading over time - no rush to judgement.

At the end of the day, Iceland is nothing but a volcanic rock, situated just below the arctic circle.  That far north in the Atlantic, Iceland is closer to Europe than to the continent of the Americas.  First boots on the ground came out of Norway in 874 AD.  Migration, westward over the next 200 - 300 years, came mostly from Norway and Scandinavia and advanced the population, which today sits at approximately 371,000 - the least populated region on the European footprint.  Active volcanoes are everywhere; fortunately they are not gushers and they usually don't explode,  preferring instead to bubble up and flow over the side of the craters. Most people think that Iceland is cold - reasonable assumption; but is isn't.  Warmed by the constant flow of the golf stream, mean temperatures in the winter average mid 30's F and an absolutely delightful mid 60's range in the summer.  This provides a snap shot of our platform for the  next10 days.

For the last 8 years I've written several blogs on the killing, by police officers, of unarmed people of color; a problem that has plagued this nation for decades but, sadly appears to have taken on a more aggressive stance within the last 15 years - even as one would have expected things to be improving. The situation acted out against Floyd was essentially no different than the dozens - nay hundreds of similar instances that had occurred in the past across the nation - no geographical footprint, exempt.  However,  inasmuch as, in the past the populous would fluster, register some indignation on the horrors and then return to life, as usual; in the case of Floyd, the response was entirely different.  This blog will explore the rationale behind the Tipping Point generated, what were the catalysts and what, if any changes will emanate from this global outpouring.

The universe is no stranger to disease pandemics, they have plagued the world of humans since the days of early cave dwellers.  Pre and post Christ years had their share; but most notably was the scourge of middle ages - Eurasian region, labeled “The Black Death”.  Later, the disease was identified as the Bubonic Plague which could be traced, initially to Asia and later Europe, as early as 3000 BC.  The disease moved thru three continents by way of cargo ships and the hosts were mostly fleas and rats – a staple on these vessels.  Effective treatment was essentially non-existent and methods, as administered, were draconian at best.  The disease viciously attacked humans and animals alike and at the end of 8 years had taken the lives of 50 million Europeans and as many as 200 million people, worldwide. 

In the 700 years following the Bubonic Plague, there has been several other epidemics – polio, small pox, Tuberculosis, Ebola, HIV/AIDS and of course the tried and tested influenza.   However, during that period,  science made enormous strides, a significant portion of which occurred within the last 100 years.  It is, therefore surprising that today – now, in the 21st century, the world  should be facing a viral pandemic with no clear direction as to – a) how to contain the contagious spread of the virus; b) how to prevent it from killing thousands of people.  In the early years, the science was lacking; today, we have the science, it's the people - government administrators, that have fallen short.

Since the coronavirus – covid-19, appeared on the world stage in late December 2019, a lot has been written, in attempt to explain – a) its origin; b) level of contagion; c) how long it would last.  Most of this narrative was politically motivated, to the point where the majority of people were confused.  My attempt here is to share my perspective, based on available information disseminated to date – no spin; what was done right, what was done poorly and what still needs to be completed before we can declare “Mission Accomplished”

Believe it or not; like it or not, at the end of the day, the most effective form of government is an autocracy.  And this should not be so hard to fathom;  Autocratic rule has been the foundation of human life, ever since the first humanoids (supposedly) walked out of a cave, 10,000 years ago.  Initially known as the Chief, that title morphed into what was eventually called a Monarchy; and over the centuries became a Divine Right, bestowed on certain families, thus making it a RIGHT, not a privilege for an individual to be KING, or QUEEN.  That said, this birthright could be in the hands of a complete moron, he would still be King.

Dear Mr. President:
 
I first saw you on television, on the night you gave the DNC key note address at the 2004 convention; and I said to my wife “… this guy is going to make it to the White House…”  Never thought it would be within the next 4 years; but that’s what happens when Jupiter aligns with Mars.  For a rookie Politician you did a tremendous job under extremely difficult circumstances.  Reviewing the macro accomplishments of all Presidents, starting with Teddy Roosevelt, in my view, you placed 2nd – behind FDR, in terms of bringing the country together and moving it forward for everyone. BRAVO! You had my vote on both occasions; I even contributed to your campaign – something I had never done in the past.   But this is not about stroking you to generate a “feel good” moment.
 
During your 2 terms, all the good things aside, you made some serious blunders – very costly and which in many ways significantly discounted your accomplishments.  Without going thru each situation, again, on a macro level, the single largest flaw was your undying commitment to being non-confrontational – not pushing back at the onslaught of negativism from the Right; and there was a LOT.  One example – “… if you like your health insurance program, you can keep it…”  I know what you meant, probably most Americans did; but the Right saw an opportunity and the used it to your detriment, almost to the point of bringing the Affordable Care Act to its knees.  But you did a poor job of explaining that the “… you can keep it…” was contingent upon insurance co’s allowing a policy holder to do so.  I waited every day for the clarification to come forth but it never did.  This is ONE of several examples – one’s enough.