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The View from My Ship
2020 Election Reader
Your Essential Christian Guide to the 2020 Presidential Election Who to vote for? Why should I even vote? What difference will it make? This short book–you can read it in less than an hour if you are not interrupted–will answer some of your questions, and, most important, suggest that the answers are in the Bible, […]
The Kidnapping of Higher Education in Alabama
December 24, 2021
In the past five to ten years the University of Alabama has abandoned its dedication to the basic elements of higher education in the country: namely, placing excellence and freedom of speech (or academic freedom) as the twin principles that have helped place Alabama among the top 500 universities and colleges in the nation. Programs […]
Posted in: critical race theory, History
Cryptocurrency vs. Cryptography
November 7, 2021
Not too long ago I ran across an article on the Internet entitled “Crypto Explained.” I thought, “well, I should take a look, since I had to learn some cryptography back in 1964-66 while a young officer on a ship, the USS Donner (LSD 20) as we cruised the Atlantic, Caribbean and Mediterranean on various […]
Posted in: Life in America, The IT World
What Is the Right Model?
November 4, 2021
This is the third or fourth column this autumn on our basic history. I forget how many we have done over the years just like I forget how many times I entered a classroom or seminar room at UA for over forty years and taught a course. Hundreds? Thousands? Goodness, what a question, probably since […]
When the Seeds Were Sown and a Retraction
October 17, 2021
All farmers, from the first to today, know that you need to sow the seed if you expect to get something. Even today’s mavens of the new mostly urban, Woke culture, subscribers to BLM, and true believers of the 1619 Project know this simple truth. To reap, you have to sow. And, of course, for […]
Posted in: Politics
The Long Run
September 26, 2021
The “long run” can be considered both literally and figuratively. It has a big place in our nation, both as a people collectively and for us as individuals. How we integrate the “long run” into our lives has an impact on our world, how it’s organized, how it operates, how it is both good and […]
Posted in: Life in America
Home is where the heart is
September 22, 2021
I woke up a few mornings ago—always a good sign when one gets up in age—and heard this song by a little girl, “Home is where the heart is.” It was a sweet, soothing song and I wrote it down so as not to forget it as we so often do of dreams. In this […]
Posted in: Life in America
Lousy Imperialists, the U. S., and the World
September 10, 2021
The post-mortems on the U. S. failure in Afghanistan presided over by President Joe Biden are everywhere—in the newspapers, magazines, television, social media, and probably even places I’ve only read or heard about, like Tik Tok. Let me give it a local spin. When the Cuban-Spanish-American War of 1898 ended (new title for that war […]
Posted in: Uncategorized
The Ugly Grade of F in Schools and Colleges
September 10, 2021
Many schools and colleges have done away with the F grade as too demeaning and demoralizing for students. I don’t know what the rules are today since I retired from teaching almost ten years ago, but I do remember that UA got rid of Fs for introductory English courses, and other discipline entry-level courses did […]
Breaking News
September 10, 2021
If there ever was an overused phrase in today’s media, it is “breaking news.” I’m not a journalist, but my sense is that it is supposed to endow anything coming over the telly or social media with an immediacy that is breathtaking. It is transmitted by the newsgirl, who catches the guys’ attention with a […]
Posted in: breaking news
English Sailors, Peasants, and American Soldiers
September 10, 2021
I’ve just been reading a book Operation Pedestal, about the British defense of the island of Malta in World War II. It reminded me of the arrival of the first American soldiers in France during the First World War—I read about it; I’m not THAT old!—under the command of General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, […]
Posted in: Uncategorized
Bible Gateway’s Verse of the Day
- Galatians 6:7-8“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
The Port Rail 
October 10, 2020
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