This is a book review of God, the Science, the Evidence: The Dawn of a Revolution, by Michel-Yves Bollore and Olivier Bonnassies (2025). The book is advertised (on the front cover) as an international best seller, with more than 400,000 copies sold.
One thing that has bothered me of late is a perception that the younger generations think they are too smart for God. They are so consumed by “following the science” that they have lost track of God. This is particularly concerning when there are...
This is a book review of Safe Passage: The Untold Story of Diplomatic Intrigue, Betrayal, and the Exchange of American and Japanese Civilians by Sea During World War II, by Evelyn Iritani (2026).
The book focuses on the second negotiated exchange of civilian prisoners, by the governments of Japan and the United States, which occurred in the fall of 1943, in the middle of World War II. I was interested in this book because my wife’s families, of Japanese ancestry, experienced many of the same...
In my previous post I outlined the “road trip” that my wife and I took during the summer of 2026. In this post I will describe the trip in more detail “day by day.”
I should note that one can drive from Omaha, Nebraska to Bismarck, North Dakota, in 8 hours and 29 minutes (per Google, along Interstates 29 and 94). Even taking the more circuitous route that we took, avoiding the interstates, takes only nine hours and 24 minutes. So, by taking three days to get to Bismarck, we were demonstrating...
My wife and I enjoy occasional long “road trips,” in which the road is part of the trip. We are of the age where hiking, kayaking, and such vigorous activities are less attractive. Looking out the car windows has become our preferred road-trip activity. As such, and because interstate travel can be mentally exhausting and boring at times, we normally take to the back roads, the secondary roads that allow one to drive into America.
This blog post is a continuation of my chapters on “Travel” in...
Sometime during the spring of 2026, a letter arrived in the mail announcing that my 60th and “last” high school reunion was going to be held in Bismarck, North Dakota, beginning on Friday, July 31, 2026. I think what caught my attention – what got me thinking – and what eventually got me to attend – was the reference to the “last” - the "final" reunion. I took those words as a challenge.
I graduated from Bismarck High School (BHS) in 1966. BHS was the only public high school in Bismarck back...
The three main goals of this year’s “road trip” to North Dakota were to visit the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library (which I wrote about in my previous post), to attend my 60th and “last” high school reunion (which I will write about in my next post), and to visit relatives (my two living aunts, some cousins, and my sister – who would also be visiting Bismarck from her home in Las Vegas, Nevada).
The trip's itinerary was very fluid and changed often during the early weeks of planning....
I first heard about the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library (TRPL) a year or so ago, when I stumbled upon a post on social media describing the status of the library’s construction in Medora, North Dakota. That post said that the library was scheduled to open on July 4, 2026 (the 250th anniversary of America).
My wife and I had talked about visiting this country’s presidential libraries, and I was looking for ideas as to where to go on our 2026 road trip. I was born and raised in North...
This post is a book review of Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith by JD Vance (2026). I was attracted to the book because 1) I like JD Vance politically, and 2) I am always interested in “Catholic conversion” stories. What leads a person to choose to go through all the work (e.g. the RCIA/OCIA process) to become a Catholic – to convert from what they were? JD Vance, from an evangelical background, was baptized into the Catholic faith in mid-August of 2019.
Note: Throughout this review,...
It tis the season where tomatoes are often ripening in the garden faster than they can be eaten or given away. In such times, I often make my “Smoky Tomato Soup” (which can be frozen and eaten throughout the winter). I also often make a batch or two at the end of the season when the last of the tomatoes are removed to ripen inside.
I will warn you, while the recipe is simple, it is also messy and labor-intensive. I just made a batch yesterday and it took me about three hours from the first...
My Cousins
I just finished tallying up how many cousins I have/had. The number was much larger than I expected – 38, 20 on my mother’s side and 18 on my father’s side. As the oldest child of two oldest children, I was born (1948) before most of my cousins. Cousin Nancy was one of the few exceptions, along with cousins Marilyn, Joanne, and Cara (maybe). Cousin Lee was born a month later than me.
My Senger Cousins
I grew up in North Dakota around the Sengers (my mother’s siblings). Uncle John’s...
This is part two of a two-part book review of Buffalo Bill and the Mormons, by Brent M. Rogers (2024).
In Part 1, I concentrated on Rogers’ depiction of Buffalo Bill. In this part of the review, I will examine Rogers’ depiction of the Mormon church and the anti-Mormonism that was rampant during Buffalo Bill’s early years as an actor and impresario. I will then review how that anti-Mormonism was mollified after the polygamy issues with the federal government were resolved – as Cody’s interest...
This is part one of a two-part book review of Buffalo Bill and the Mormons, by Brent M. Rogers (2024).
Rogers’ book caught my attention as I was wandering through my local library recently because the book’s title included two things that I was interested in, Buffalo Bill and Mormons.
As for “Buffalo Bill,” my wife and I were preparing for our 2026 road trip through buffalo country. We would be spending some time near Medora, North Dakota – where former president Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt...
This post is a review of The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block, and the Creative Brain, by Alice W. Flaherty (2004). I am not sure how the book arrived in my library queue a week or so ago. When I picked up the book at the library, I assumed that it had been a recent purchase – with a recent copyright date – reserved recently from my library’s list of new purchases (i.e., Wowbrary).
When I was almost through with the book, I noticed that the book had been written way back...
This is a review of American Pontiff: Pope Leo XIV and His Plan to Heal the Church by Paul Kengor, Ph.D. (2026). The book actually covers two popes, with much of the book spent analyzing the pontificate (2013-2025) of Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio).
I first wrote about Pope Francis in my book A Catholic Prays Scripture (Volume 4): concerning God’s “word” and the “future.” In Chapter 6 (Your “Future” Prayer), I wrote about Pope Francis’ love for a book entitled The Betrothed by Alessandro...
This is the third in a series of three posts on Nebraska government and politics. The first post (June 21, 2026) concerned Nebraska’s unicameral legislature. The second post concerned a Nebraska political phenomenon known as the “blue dot.” This post will concern how the blue dot impacted the May 12, 2026, primary election in Nebraska.
My Favorite Primary Ad
The political ad that ultimately prompted this post caught my attention when I pulled it out of my mailbox. I DID see a clear difference...
Nebraska’s “blue dot” has received a lot of attention during recent presidential elections – more than you might expect for one lousy vote. Let’s start with some basics.
The Electoral College
Per the constitution, the electoral college assembles every four years to elect the president of the United States – to translate the popular vote in each state into that state’s vote – and then to accumulate those state votes to pick the president of the union. Each state is given two votes (one per...
Politically speaking, we are between seasons in Nebraska. The May 10th primary election has been held and the November general election is several months away. So, I thought I would spend a little time now writing about Nebraska government and politics. This is the first of three planned posts on these topics.
Nebraska is traditionally a Republican state. The current governor (Jim Pillen), two senators (Pete Ricketts and Deb Fischer), and three congressmen (Mike Flood, Don Bacon, and Adam...
This post is the fifth and last post in a series concerning parables. For the most part, these posts contained excerpts from the third chapter (A Parable Prayer) of my book A Catholic Prays Scripture – Volume 4: concerning God’s “word” and the “future.” The first post in this series was posted on May 17, 2026.
Hopefully you learned a few things from the first two posts and found some humor in the parables of sausage and golf.
Most of the chapters in my A Catholic Prays Scripture series start...
This post is the fourth post concerning parables. For the most part, these posts contain excerpts from the third chapter (A Parable Prayer) in my book A Catholic Prays Scripture – Volume 4: concerning God’s “word” and the “future.” The first post in this series was posted on May 17, 2026.
An Observation
Before I get into my parables about golf, I want to note an observation that I made during my study of the New Testament. My observation was that, considering how frequently Jesus used parables...
This post is the third post, in a series of five concerning parables. For the most part, these posts contain excerpts from the third chapter (A Parable Prayer) in my book A Catholic Prays Scripture – Volume 4: concerning God’s “word” and the “future.” The first post in this series was posted on May 17, 2026.
My Assignment
Write a modern-day parable about the Kingdom of God. Begin it simply with the words "The Kingdom of God is like . . . (Before you write, recall what a parable is; why it is...