Author Archives: hessd

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About hessd

Here is all you need to know to follow this blog. I am an old man and I love to think about why we say the things we do. I've taught at the elementary, secondary, collegiate, and doctoral levels. I don't think one is easier than another. They are hard in different ways. I have taught political science for a long time and have practiced politics in and around the Oregon Legislature. I don't think one is easier than another. They are hard in different ways. You'll be seeing a lot about my favorite topics here. There will be religious reflections (I'm a Christian) and political reflections (I'm a Democrat) and a good deal of whimsy. I'm a dilettante.

Cherished Memories-1

Posted on November 30, 2017 by hessd

This is what you think it is, but it might not be where you thought it might be. It is the International Airport of Vienna, the Flughafen Wien-Schwechat. When I saw it, I laughed out loud. I was the only … Continue reading →

Posted in Living My Life | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Personal authenticity and robots

Posted on November 29, 2017 by hessd

I had never heard of the Foundation for Responsible Robotics (FRR) until I read “Bad Day for Human Dignity” in This Week magazine, [1] but there is such a foundation and I’d like to explore today what it might propose … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The sensible pursuit of class goals

Posted on November 26, 2017 by hessd

What is a “class goal?” When I was in high school, one of the traditions was to collect money so that the graduating senior class could give a gift to the school. We did the same thing in college. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Political Psychology, Society | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s a PG sort of coffee shop

Posted on November 21, 2017 by hessd

In Sam Raimi’s film, For the Love of the Game, he sets up a scene in an airport bar. An insensitive boor begins regaling the woman on the barstool next to him with his extensive knowledge of the Yankees. [1] … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Living My Life, Society, Theology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

I was “only joking”

Posted on November 15, 2017 by hessd

The serious work to be done in this essay is a consideration of what the word “only” contributes to the expression, “I was only joking.” This is something that might be said by someone who has just been reproved for … Continue reading →

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We are running out of umpires

Posted on November 13, 2017 by hessd

I first ran into what Rush Limbaugh calls “trans-partisan authorities” in the form of “trans-racial authorities.” In was in the late 1960s and a very angry black man was telling me how things really were. He said that segregation was … Continue reading →

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A Better World

Posted on November 4, 2017 by hessd

Jean Paul Sartre published Being and Nothingness in 1943. I was five years old, so I missed most of the early discussions, but as I came to understand it, Sartre argues that life has no intrinsic meaning at all and … Continue reading →

Posted in A life of faith, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Marriage Covenant

Posted on November 1, 2017 by hessd

We call it a “marriage covenant” without thinking much about it. A covenant is a “coming together,” certainly; every way of parsing the word must note com = “together” and venire = “to come.” But we “come together” in so … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Love and Marriage, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

And don’t forget to put the milk in the icebox

Posted on October 25, 2017 by hessd

One of my favorite slogans is “Rising Above Decline” I first ran into it in a study of what to do with excess school space in Boston and they meant simply that the school age population was decreasing, so the … Continue reading →

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“We don’t get no respect!”

Posted on October 22, 2017 by hessd

Martin E. P. Seligman surprised a lot of people when he predicted the standings in the next year’s baseball season from a content analysis of comments made by the management and the players about the season just finished. Like me, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Political Psychology, Sustainability, ways of knowing, Words | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment