Anthony Barker

Anthony Barker died April 3, 2022. I was able to visit him the week prior. He had been released from the hospital to the assisted living facility that he shared with his wife, Betty. He was on hospice with a prognostication of three more months. Although he was thinner and frailer than I had everContinue reading “Anthony Barker”

KNIFE WORK

My initial attraction to martial arts was through the weapons as artifacts. I was entranced by the beauty of the swords at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.[1] I still covet and collect weapons but the pragmatist in me knows this is a servile and dangerous affliction. The importance isn’t the tool, it is theContinue reading “KNIFE WORK”

Ideological Nightmares

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is profoundly troubling me. While I am gladdened to see Western Europe galvanized against Russia and unified in economic sanctions, I still worry that it will not be sufficient. I worry that we could be witnessing a resurging war of ideology. Numerous intelligent scholars are dissecting Putin’s motives, but the fundamentalContinue reading “Ideological Nightmares”