Blame the Shooter?

On the evening of April 24th the WHCD held its annual meeting.  President Trump was an honored guest seated at the head table.  Before the meeting started, a thirty-one year old Caucasian male from California rose up and tried to assassinate the President. The attempt failed and he was soon apprehended.

This is the 3rd assassination attempt on Trump's life. Charlie Kirk was actually assassinated. A Supreme Court judge suffered an attempted assassination. Steve Scalise was shot during a congressional softball game. The Democratic far-left for the past twelve years has labelled Trump as the new Hitler, the enemy of democracy, the shredder of the Constitution, a racist, an antisemite, a Russian colluder and more. Trump has been indicted ninety-four times (with only one specious conviction). He has been impeached twice. The Jan 6 Select Committee has accused him of insurrection. We have seen street violence. lootings and destruction so many times that it has become accepted, passed of as simple protests, and no one is punished. The main stream media has continuously broadcast and trumpeted these events and dangerous invective as perhaps justified.

Do you wonder why some sophomoric ideologue might see it his sacred duty to rid the world of this new Nazi and his followers? Would you have blamed someone for killing Hitler in 1933? Would you have blamed someone for killing Mussolini, Stalin, Mao Zedong or Pol Pot before they were responsible for tens of millions of deaths? Is there a difference between President Trump and these evil dictators? In case you missed it, this is a rhetorical question. The answer is yes – a profound yes.

So, should we blame and punish the shooter? Of course. But even more to blame are the voices of violence, hate and invective that have flavored our public discourse and given the inspiration and OK to violence. Our beloved country is losing its direction, its Judeo Christian heritage, and the art of compromise in politics. Stop it!

An All Consuming Word

We think with words. Words organize and put meaning into our thoughts. Except for emotions, words define our thoughts. We use words to communicate with others – written and spoken. The wealth of ideas – good, bad, profound, enduring – can only be expressed in words. Without words we are mute, uncommunicative, and alone with only our uncontrolled emotions. Words are vital and they do, they must, have meaning.

We learned many years ago that words are divided into four basic categories – nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, Nouns name things – cat, dog, banana. Verbs define an action – run, play, fight. Adjectives describe and give flavor and substance to a noun  -beautiful, red, wholesome. Adverbs define and give flavor to a verb.

There is a word that is both noun and verb. It has been used for centuries in the English language and it defies a precise meaning. Again and again we’ve used it in countless different circumstances and we’ve left it to the listener to give it meaning. It is fungible, it is imprecise, and it is profound. The word is “love”.

I’m told that the Eskimos have many different names for that white, frozen, flaky substance that we in the south call “snow”. They have different names that define the different characteristics of the “snow” that in many ways controls their lives. Is it light and fluffy, is it hard and crystalline, is it heavy and moist, is it life threatening? We in current day America , in a starved language that limits us to 140 characters in a text,  use the word “love”  in so many contexts without bothering to define the countless nuances that hide behind that word. A teenage boy will say “I love you.” to score with a young girl who places a different meaning on love. A young couple at the altar will say “I love you” with a profound and deep meaning. A daughter at the bedside of her mother leaving life will say “I love you.”  as a fond farewell.

“Love” is a deep and tangled umbrella word that covers so many shades of meaning. Does it mean:

Admiration,

Respect,

Affection,

Trust,

Liking,

Adoration,

Infatuation,

Attachment,

Longing,

Lust,

Desire,

Appreciation,

Devotion,

Understanding,

Support,

Companionship,

Fidelity,

Friendship,

or any combination?

And then, how long does this ”love” endure? How long is this “love” attachment to last? A few moments until orgasm stops?  A few weeks/months until another “love” speaker appears? A lifetime between two who have examined their true meanings of love? Through all eternity embracing the love of God?

I don’t know. I just wish we all would examine and say what we truly mean when we speak that word “Love”

Beauty

Why is it that people, including new borns, have a sense of beauty? Infants relax when hearing harmonious music. Adults can be captured in an emotional rapture by great music. Infants respond beautifully when looking at a warm and smiling face – a truly beautiful thing. Visual beauty is recognized by all: consider the works of art that have stood the test of time and changing social environments. Mathematical structures, theories and algorithms have a simple and logical beauty that can be recognized by all. The scientific laws as discovered by Newton, Maxwell, Einstein, and others have a logical truth and beauty. And let’s not leave out the signaling of olfactory and tactile beauty: it “smells” good, it “feels” good.

 But why is this recognition of beauty universal? Are we born with it or do we learn it? Certainly, Eastern art and tastes differ from that of the West. But the difference lies in the manipulation of common elements which include proportion and symmetry. We all sense discordant notes, bad art, rotten and smelly food and rough surfaces. I believe that we are all hard wired to recognize and appreciate beauty in terms of proportion and symmetry.

 Why should this be so? Beauty serves no utilitarian purpose. Beauty doesn’t help us change a tire, vacuum the rug, or write a computer program. The results of our utilitarian efforts can result in a recognizable thing of beauty, but beauty doesn’t necessarily guide our hand or our brain. Many times beauty results as the product of our efforts. Did evolution give us this recognition of beauty? I think not. I assume that humans in the far distant past did recognize the beauty in a sunset, the awesome display of the moon and stars in a cloudless night, and the melodious humming or chanting of the human voice. I am left with a possible answer: God infused His creation with beauty to reflect and draw us to His magnificence, grace, and beauty.

Software as Art

Software is not properly recognized. It is most commonly viewed as a rather prosaic  algorithm (whatever that means) designed to produce an accurate, computer assisted result. Software programmers, those who write the software, are characterized as nerdy, socially inept recluses who wear stained, collarless pullover shirts and dwell alone in remote, dark rooms. In the modern era, software supports and enables a huge variety of activities such as banking, space flights, accounting, pattern recognition, census counts, home budgeting, DNA analysis and countless more activities. Did I mention AI?  Software is vital, a sine qua non, to the modern technical age.

Software is a language. Like our human spoken and written languages, it has many forms each with its own structure, uses and words – COBOL, BAL, BASIC, C++- But like any language, its major purpose is to communicate.  Our human languages are designed to communicate ideas, structures, and instructions between individuals. (They also communicate emotions, nuances, and the many wanderings of the mind. That is a different topic.)    Software itself, and its many languages, has a narrower focus. Its purpose is to communicate to a computer a set of instructions designed to produce a specific and prespecified result – send humans to the moon or see if we met our budget goals.

There is good software and there is bad software. Bad software is soon recognized. Your screen goes blank, the computer program goes into a loop, a “bug” crashes the program, the moon rocket veers off into endless space. Good software is implicitly recognized by the fact that it achieves its predefined goal – it doesn’t hang up, the screen doesn’t go blank, and our humans reach the moon – and return.

But can software be considered an art? Can a software program be in the same class as a Mona Lisa, a Beethoven 9th, or a Pulitzer Prize novel? Would it even be fair to promote good software from a working and mundane effort by some nerdy individuals into a technical age class of art? I say yes.

The good or great programmer (and I speak from experience) enters a state of intense concentration. He is totally focused and holds every program instruction in what is similar to a colloidal suspension. Any interruption causes this mental suspension to collapse. It must then be reabsorbed into the mind. Every program instruction in whatever language is used, must reflect in explicit detail what the corresponding computer instruction can do. The sequential progression of instructions must reflect the proper IFs, THENs, ANDs, ORs, NANDs and NOTs which express the program’s logic. Many programs must be aware of time to the millisecond – when to jettison the lift off rockets from the main module, the precise instant to issue a ticket for a “right turn on red” violation. All programs must make the right decision based on sampling a previous test. All programs must be aware of and handle all possible outcomes of a previous test or logical conclusion.  If a program tests only for an expected “right” or “left” result and the result is “straight ahead”, then the program may crash, go into a loop, or produce an erroneous result. Great programs make the best possible use of the computer’s limited assets – instruction set, speed, and available memory.

Great music demands that the singer masters his vocal chords and the score. Great painting demands that the artist masters his palette and the painted surface. Great prose demands that the author masters his language and the nuanced story line. A great program demands that the programmer accounts for every possible detail of the predefined result and makes efficient use of the computer’s limited assets. But many times the “great”  adjective gives way to “Wonderful”, “Magnificent”, “Awesome”, or “Remarkable”. How does this happen?  This happens when the singer, painter, author, or programmer goes beyond the expected and infuses a part of himself into the effort.

If there was a Nobel or Pulitzer or NYT or Guiness Book prize for remarkable software, I would nominate the software that controls our moon shots. I would also nominate the Microsoft Excel product. These are both magnificent software examples.  

Reason and Iran

Let’s retreat for a moment back into the land of pure reason and common sense. Let’s move away from the strictures of ideology, passion and utopian yearnings. Let’s use common sense and the mind, free of emotion, to examine a current and volatile situation.

Assume that you are a citizen of the USA. You believe in the essential goodness of your country. Your country has never used its military strength to extend its orders and possessions by land invasions. In fact, it has used its blood and treasure to prevent physical and ideologic aggressions. At the end of WWII, the USA was instrumental in defeating the now ruined NAZI  and Japanese empires. We had the bomb. Europe and Japan were in shambles. We could have taken whatever we wanted. The only land we took was a small piece of soil in Normandy, France. Here lie Americans, silent and dead, killed in the DDay invasion of the Normandy beaches.

We have alliances. They are designed to prevent aggression - physical, financial and ideological – by foreign powers. They are also designed to protect our status as both a free and powerful country. We choose not to become one among many, a coequal country subscribing to a remote world order ruled by a supposed intellectual elite. One of our strongest alliances is with Isreal.

Isreal is a tiny piece of land on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. It was deeded to the Jewish people by the United Nations in 1948. Ever since that time it has been surrounded by Muslim countries intent on destroying this tiny state. For seventy-eight years Israel has been subject to invasions, terror attacks and rocket bombings. It has used its military power to bomb and eliminate sources of these attacks. It has nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver them but has never used them as a threat. In an attempt at peace with its Muslim neighbors, Israel has given a portion of its land to the Palestinians – Gaza and the West Bank.

Forty-seven years ago, the Muslim state of Iran had a revolution. They threw out the western oriented Shah of Iran and brought in a hard-line Muslim cleric – Ruhollah Khomeini, the Ayatollah. Ever since then Iran has been an anti-western theocracy. They preach the destruction of Israel and the evil Satan, the USA. They have been the principal financial source of terrorism in Israel and western countries. For years a primary Iranian goal has been hegemony in the near east and the development of nuclear bombs. They have been developing offensive nuclear missile delivery capability. Iran presents a clear threat to Israel and, eventually, to the USA.

So, here we are. You can argue about the justification of the Palestinian cause and the state of Israel. You can argue about Iran’s financing of terrorism and hegemony goals. You can argue about the extent of USA support of Israel. You can argue about Trump’s tactics in the current conflict. But here is one thing you cannot argue. For forty-seven years Iran has been a supporter of terrorism, an outspoken and real threat to Israel, a threat to the independence of the near east, and eventually a threat to the USA. And, most frightening of all, Iran was weeks away from having nuclear bombs and the ability to deliver them.

What would you do if a professed, powerful and vocal enemy of your country and your ally continued to rain in bombs, supported random acts of terror, and was close to offensive nuclear bomb capability? In the western tradition you would first use diplomacy to ease or eliminate the threat. For forty-seven years this has been tried by all of our presidents with absolutely no effect. You cannot deal with someone who has no common basis of understanding – the value of human life, the sanctity of borders, freedom of religion, the prohibition of lying and cheating, the agreement that the end does not justify the means. In the absence of any common basis of understanding, the only tool left is force. Unfortunately, after forty-seen year of futility, our president realizes the truth – and he is using force.

Columbia Scholl of Journalism

‍Recording of a recent interview for admission to the Columbia Scholl of Journalism.

‍Please press “1” for Spanish, “2” for English and “3” for a list of supported languages.

‍ Int: Good afternoon, Miss Milnial. Why have you selected CSOJ?

‍ Mil: Well, I’m interested in Investigative Journalism.

‍ ‍Int: We don’t offer courses in Investigative Journalism per se.

‍ ‍Mil: Please help me. I thought that investigation of the facts was one of the pillars of journalism.

‍ ‍Int: Not always. Facts can be hard to find and at times very slippery. We encourage the student journalists to examine their feelings and ideological beliefs. We feel that this is their truth. We encourage investigation, if it is really needed, to be guided by their beliefs – their truth.

‍ ‍Mil: But what if I uncover supposed facts that run counter to my beliefs?

‍ ‍Int: We advise our students to keep their beliefs, their truth, uppermost in their reporting. If you are accepted into CSOJ you will become a champion of true righteousness and we wouldn’t want the intrusion of suspect beliefs or facts to color your reporting. If you uncover troubling facts, accomplishments, or ideas we advise you to simply not report them.

‍ ‍Mil: I come from the Midwest and graduated from a parochial high school and college. I believe that my grades, my participation in community service, and my SAT grades speak for themselves.

‍ ‍Int: Ordinarily they would. But I see that you were active in a Right to Life group, an Israeli support group, and there is mention here of a Gay Marriage bias. Is this true?

‍ ‍Mil: Yes. True. But why do you question this. Isn’t CSOJ open to all ideas and the discussion of diversity?

‍ ‍Int: Not quite. We believe that mankind has advanced beyond the calcified ideas of the past. We have removed ourselves from the strictures of outdated beliefs. We believe that the truly gifted and intellectually superior people of this generation have discovered those ideas that will bring about a true earthly Utopia.

‍ ‍Mil: Hold on a bit. There is nothing new here. The progressive ideology argues that an elite group of intelligent people could better govern than a large group of unschooled citizens each pursuing their own untutored ends. This is nothing new. Plato, Thomas More, Thomas Hobbes and Karl Marx all defined a utopia where a “truly benevolent and wise” government gains the trust and following of the citizens and makes all the rules, much to the satisfaction of the citizens. Unfortunately, history still waits for this utopia to arrive.

‍ ‍Int: These are ideas we’d rather not see expressed in our classrooms. By the way, do you have any non-Caucasian background, LBGTQ leanings, agnostic beliefs, religious beliefs, conservative leanings or politically incorrect beliefs?

‍ ‍Mil: Why do you ask?

‍ ‍Int: We have student and teacher councils here at CSOJ that monitor student speech, behavior and inappropriate class discussion. We would hate to have you express certain outdated ideas. We would also love to hear you express the approved new normal ideas and thought. Your grades could depend on the expression of your innermost beliefs.

‍ ‍Mil: Thanks for your time. I’m withdrawing my application.

‍ ‍

Hot Off The Press!

See more on the PRESS INFO page or see us featured on page 80 of the April , 2026, issue of Forest & Bluff Magazine. Read here: https://jwcmedia.com/forest-bluff-digital-edition/

Trump the King

What is a King? We’ve read about “Kings” down through the ages. They’ve been defined by what they accomplished, what they destroyed, and what was left in their wake.

There have been good kings and bad.  Plato, in his Republic, defined a “Philosopher King”. This was an intelligent and wise person who had captured the true meaning of virtue and righteousness. He ruled with the consent of the people because they recognized his goodness and authority. Unfortunately, we await his arrival. Louis XIV of France was known as the “Sun King”. History labels him as a good king. He was devoted to his country and to the wellbeing of its subjects. He held the supreme, unquestioned authority and used it many times. He did listen to his nobles and the voice of his people but his was always the last word.

Unfortunately, bad ” kings” darken the pages of history. Too many times we know them as despots, tyrants and dictators. These are people who rule with absolute power who often use it in cruel, unfair, or oppressive ways. They are characterized by unchecked authority, reliance of force over law, and the use of fear as a government policy. Witness Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and many more dictator “kings” in the modern era.

In recent days we’ve seen protests in blue states and cities labelling President Trump as a cruel and oppressive, bad “king’. But “king” is just a word. It draws meaning based on the actions of the supposed king. So now let’s examine the actions of President Trump and see if the appellation, king, applies and is it derogatory.

Trump assumed the presidency of our country by an overwhelming, popular vote. He didn’t assume the presidency based on heredity, violence, tradition, lies, deceit or brown shirts in the streets. He won the popular vote. So in this sense the label “king” doesn’t apply. The presidency does imply authority but this is not a supreme authority outside of the law. The presidency – the executive – is limited in its authority by the two other constitutionally specified branches of our government – the legislative and judicial. President Trump is the commander in chief of the armed forces and is principally responsible for the safety of our country and its citizens. This includes use of ICE as mandated shortly after 9/11 and used by President Obama to deport 2 million illegals. This also includes the use of force to protect our country and its citizens from violence sponsored by a foreign power. This power and mandate is currently being used to eliminate the very real forty-seven year old threat  of terrorism and a nuclear bomb by Iran. President Trump’s often stated and primary goal is the physical and financial welfare of all our citizens, not just the wealthy. This is confirmed by his tax cuts for the middle class, energy independence, tariffs, elimination of useless federal bureaucracies, his restoration of law and order, and opportunity zones for the underprivileged. President Trump and MAGA, unlike the far left of the Democratic party, has no interest in a revolutionary World Government which offers shrink wrapped equity and fairness to some seven plus billion humans. Instead, conserve this magnificent country while correcting outstanding problems. One last Trump goal which is contrary to all dictators and bad kings; Trump wants to reduce the size of government.

If Trump is a king, then hail to him and continue to be the good king.

How Often

How often do you marvel at the beauty of the day? How often does the golden sun shine down from a crystal clear blue sky and paint the lush trees with tints, tones and shades of green? How often does the smell of a summer in full bloom tease your nose? How often does a cool breeze caress your skin with gentle hands? And how often do all these things come together at one time? For me they came together yesterday- August 31, 2024. It was a delight.

 It makes me wonder: what is the basis of my appreciation of such a beautiful day? What makes me recognize the pure harmony and beauty of this day? We all have the same feelings. We all recognize the beauty of such a day as compared to thousands of other days. This same universal appreciation of great music, fine art, fine poetry and prose, a smooth surface, beautiful women, handsome men begs the question, “How come?”. The newly born warm to good music and a smiling face. No one taught them; they were born with this appreciation. We all appreciate the beauty of form, function, proportion, and symmetry found everywhere in nature.

 Could it be evolution? Going back in time, could it be that humans who appreciated beauty had the better chance of surviving and now are predominant in today’s world? This certainly could be but then why did the determinate keys to survival way back when include the appreciation of beauty?

I suggest a simple solution. Nature, or God in his wisdom, gave us all this appreciation as a demonstration of the beauty of His creation.

Save the Date!

On April 8th, 2026, I will be giving a short presentation on the “Importance of Stories”. This will take place at the Gorton Center, 400 East Illinois St, Lake Forest IL, from 7:15 to 7:45 PM.

Before the written word, stories were all we had. They brought forward the past. They knitted together the family, the tribe in ever widening concentric social circles. There was always a wise man, a shaman, who knew and related these cherished stories. Without these stories - histories -  there was no shared sense of community, connection and purpose.

 Why is history such a bore? Columbus in 1492? The Hundred Years war? The birth of our country in 1776? Dates, events, movements, wars collated and defined simply as dates and major trends. How boring. Why not promote narrative history filled with the dreams, the character, and the passion of those who create historical events? History should be taught as an ongoing story – a story filled with the emotions and character of the people creating the events which are recorded as history.

 Why do children love to be told stories? Why do parents love to tell stories to their kids? It is a simple but vital way to communicate an understanding of the child’s surroundings and their place in it. A child’s early years without stories is a bleak landscape leading nowhere.

 We are, at our core, remembering and story making creatures, and stories are one of the chief ways we find meaning in the flow of events.  The magnificent story of the creation and building of our country is the perfect example of the power of a shared story. It is a beautiful story which, in its repeated telling, ties us all together in shared beliefs.

 The Bible is not just a collection of inspiring tales, wise advice, warnings and predictions. It is a story. The Old Testament is the ongoing story of a people chosen to produce the Savior. It chronicles and predicts in story form the coming of the Savior. The New Testament continues the story as it describes the life and progress of Jesus as predicted by the Old Testament. It is truly the greatest story ever told. 

 A story should never die. The only way to keep it alive is to record it and retell it. Record your stories and make sure they are retold.