jdbernard743, Author at JACK BERNARD'S TRAVELS

Author Archive for jdbernard743 – Page 28

Posted by jdbernard743

· December 15, 2019

Laugh it Off…

I feel like the fabled frog in the fabled pot of hot water. I know it’s getting warm and there’s a danger my frogish ass will get cooked if I don’t get out of the pot… but where’s my lifeline?

Here’s my problem: The heat of impeachment is rising. Congressional committees are working through the night. Both parties are stewing in their juices. Temperatures are climbing, voices more strident. Articles of Impeachment have been drafted, and pundits are frothing at the mouth, and just this morning, Rudolph Giuliani returned to the White House to report on his latest escapades in Ukraine, and they’re all driving me crazy. read more

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Categories : Art, Ethics, Film/Television, Politics, Travel, Uncategorized, Work and Adventure

Posted by jdbernard743

· December 6, 2019

· 4 Comments

Advice to Self…

Remember when “parental control” was a euphemism for discipline. We invoked it when we thought the kids were watching too much television. Now parental controls are built in to their devices. A much better idea – no nagging – way to manage their “screen time.” That’s great for parenting but we parents need to limit our own screen time. We’re are drowning in TMI, too much information. We need self-discipline to control the deluge.

John Lennon told us, “Christ, you know it ain’t easy.” And it isn’t. Look around. Watch people on the bus. Nobody’s talking. Everybody’s staring at their phones. They’re consumed. TMI. Look at all the morbidly obese people the next time you go to Starbucks. Too many Frappuccino’s. TMF. I probably shouldn’t wade in these waters, but too much political news is just as bad for your health as too many Frappuccino’s. read more

Categories : Books, Ethics, Film/Television, Personal/Family, Politics, Uncategorized

Posted by jdbernard743

· December 1, 2019

· 3 Comments

Movies, Marriage, and Metaphor…

Every year around Thanksgiving M and I anticipate the release of new films hoping for an Oscar nomination. This year is no exception. In the last two weeks we’ve seen three – Scorsese’s The Irishman with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood with Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, and Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver.

I was prepared for gory violence in the first two, but nothing prepared me for the pain and emotional violence of Marriage Story. I knew it would a roller coaster. I had seen Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale (2005) nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar and Francis Ha, his 2012 film starring his muse Greta Gerwig. Still, the characters in Marriage Story broke my heart because they and their story were so mainstream and tragic in their normalcy. read more

Categories : Art, Books, Film/Television, Friendship, Politics, Uncategorized

Posted by jdbernard743

· November 21, 2019

· 2 Comments

Murderers Pardoned…

You’re not alone if you missed this news last week. It was hiding on Page 15 of the New York Times and Page 4 of the Seattle Times – far less newsworthy than the frenzied presidential impeachment inquiry – but, standing alone, it deserved Page 1 treatment. Three American military officers charged with and/or convicted of murder by military courts were given full pardons by President Trump.

“Unprecedented” is a term often applied to this Commander-in-Chief’s actions and commuting the sentences of US servicemen convicted of war crimes by a jury of their military peers definitely meets that standard. This president, who never served in the military and is not a lawyer, feels he knows better than the courts. His justification for the pardons was “War is chaos” – suggesting a different standard should apply, even though the Uniform Code of Military Justice explicitly covers the situation. read more

Categories : Ethics, Politics, Uncategorized

Posted by jdbernard743

· November 17, 2019

· 1 Comment

Cowardice – the Latest Superbug

America today is not the America I grew up in. It is not the America whose flawed but aspirational history I studied in school. It is not the America whose founding principles I knew and understood. It is not the America I served for seven years as a Marine pilot.

Today, America is a country whose leadership choses to ignore science, a country where facts no longer matter, and a country where the truth is under attack. It is an America where elected and appointed officials have allowed the President to engage in outrageous, dangerous, and morally reprehensible behavior without the courage to challenge or censure him. They have ignored facts, behavior, and consequences in the defense of the indefensible. read more

Categories : Ethics, Uncategorized