Sometimes life is so packed with activities that it's difficult to adequately report in my occasional blogs. That is my feeling about this past week in Detroit.
My father was a Superior Court judge in Columbus, Georgia. His legal philosophy was ahead of his time. He believed that “victimless crimes” were contrary to freedom and the intent of our constitutional founders. His theory of law was that the force of government should only be used to protect people and property, not to incarcerate people for what they do willingly in their private homes. Thus, he believed that prostitution and drugs should be legal. He came close to losing an election when his opponent claimed Judge Smith was “soft on drug dealers.” (He was!) . . .
Our fourth Viking port of call was the country of Panama, at the port of its huge modern capital, Panama City. Panama originally was part of its Southern neighbor Columbia. But American “gunboat diplomacy” separated Panama early in the 20th century into an American “protectorate”. This allowed the US to proceed with the ambitious project of constructing the Panama Canal, whose length of approximately fifty miles qualifies it as one of the greatest engineering projects in human history.
As Susan and I conclude our sixth and final week in Mumbai, India, I will attempt to relate the cultural impressions rather than just recounting the events. Readers of my previous blogs will know I’ve been visiting India for many years, playing music in various settings.
This blog was written during our ten-day visit to Israel. My wife Susan’s sister Aliza has lived in Israel for decades. In our thirty-five years of marriage, Susan and I have visited Israel at least a dozen times. Israel is a dynamic society of high-achieving hard-working people.
Christmas Eve in Portugal Sometimes small personal interactions with local residents can color a whole experience of a visit to a foreign country. This happened to me today. My friend Bill and I took the morning excursion from the Viking River Cruise boat. . .
Following our two weeks in Germany and Sweden, we flew into Oslo, Norway, one day early before the flight to join our Hurtigruten cruise around the Svalbard island chain. Upon the recommendation of my old friend Per (who is Norwegian but lives in Germany), we . . .