Health
Can Morality Exist Without Religion? ©2017 Vernon Miles Kerr In the late 19th Century, “Liberal” teaching threw out religion, along with religion’s moral guidelines, replacing those guidelines with moral relativism and situation-based ethics. Since then, the world’s diminishing moral conscience has been claimed and dominated by its religious
Economics
The Granule That Broke My Tooth © 2017 Vernon Miles Kerr You, granule that broke my tooth, You grain of wheat the miller missed, You minuscule monster of dental destruction, You are more than just my own tormentor: You are scion to granules who tormented nations, Who were packed into granaries
Conceit
Fluidics © 2017 Vernon Miles Kerr Energy, Spirit, Love, Flow outward, Ever expanding. Power, Influence, Conceit, Flow inward, Only compacting.
Cultural Assimilation
Having read both of Manfred Wolf’s previous books of recent years, I’m a fan. While “Survival in Paradise” was deeply personal and at times, surprisingly emotional, this new book, more like his earlier “Almost a Foreign Country,” is shrewdly logical and (typically) deeply analytical. Wolf seems to always
Agnosticism
© 2017 Vernon Miles Kerr This is an email I recently sent to a longtime friend and mentor who is ethnically Jewish but religiously atheistic. I don’t know if you remember how — on the old PCs — the hard disk would get all fragmented over time? The computer would just store
Humanity
Internecine © 2017 Vernon Miles Kerr Are all families dysfunctional? Are any not? Thanksgiving beckons. Love draws, but fear impedes. We go anyway, Putting away ancient hurts And hoping for the best — Hugs and howdies. The mashed-potatoes go ’round, Cranberries and turkey too. We hold our tongues Until alcohol loosens them
Compassion
Today, August 5th (August 6th in Japan) is the Anniversary of the most heinous act ever perpetrated in the name of America: the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and three days later, Nagasaki, Japan. All of the rationalizations posed by politicians then and still being posed today, are pure unadulterated male
Entropy
Entropy © 2017 Vernon Miles Kerr The First Law of Thermodynamics: The increase in the internal energy of a system is equal to the amount of energy added by heating the system, minus the amount lost as a result of the work done by the system on its surroundings. The Second
Biology
My Calloused Brain (c) 2017 Vernon Miles Kerr Others meditate And claim inspiration: “Relax; focus on your breathing, Wait for enlightenment.” I’ve waited… And waited… But nothing— Except embarrassment For failing at their game. I view the magic in Nature, Knowing that I should feel awe, Be inspired, Well
Despots
Louis xvi © 2017, 2021 Vernon Miles Kerr There’s smugness in those With absolute power, A blindness to history, Unwarranted ego: “I’m so unique and great I’ll be the first to avoid that fate.” Louie’s wife said “No bread? Then call for cake,” More in ignorance than
Agnosticism
The Cosmos as Creation © 2017 Vernon Miles Kerr If a supreme intelligence created our Universe it deliberately gave its creation limits. Things set in motion tend to slow down. Heat tends to cool. Living beings are born, thrive, grow and then, as they age, begin to deteriorate, slow down and
Ecology
Life Is… © 2017 Vernon Miles Kerr Life is a flute of champagne. We are the twinkling bubbles Streaming upward, Spattering into oblivion at the top. We are born, We rise through life’s events Then we burst. Gone. Nothing. But new bubbles always replace us, For the moment. Life is
Curaçao
My film script Survival In Paradise, discussed in an earlier post, has now been entered in several screenwriting competitions and is in the reading queue of three or four producers who are mutual friends of either myself or Manfred Wolf, the author of the memoir from which this work is
Creativity
Stories ©2016 Vernon Miles Kerr As a writer, I agonize over stories. What shall I write about? How shall I make it engaging, Captivating, Even perplexing? I dig deep into the dustbin of my mind, Unraveling old wadded up balls of memory, Looking for the right story. There are multitudes