What I Think About What Other People Say (WITAWOPS)

Last week was my 40th post. Some readers have noted my posts are heavy and they require a certain mood to read and digest. Others voiced a different opinion: “...so do you actually have any positive posts without a trace of didactic prose? 🤔 ” Unapologetically, no. I don’t. Hence the name of the blog: WITAWOPS. But on the occasion of 41, here is a slightly lighter one. What Other People Say (or don't think): I’ve worked on airport projects for about 5 years and I have flown in and out of airports across the globe: Anchorage, Bogota, Cairo, Gandor, Gilgit, Johannesburg, Kinshasa, Lubbock, Phuket, and Singapore. What struck me across the globe was the number of airport staff, consultants, and passengers who don't know how runways are numbered.  Why is Boston’s newest runway 14/32, while Giglit has 7/25. Why does Singapore have 2R/20L but also 2C/20C and 2L/20R? Look at a satellite image of any airport and you will see the runway number at the end. For example, here are the runwa...

On December 9, 2024, I published this post that was really focused on whether or not America would do the right thing and allow Syria to reboot. This week, I am excited and proud to acknowledge that America set off in the direction I was hoping for. We have begun the complex process of lifting four decades of sanctions and gulf states have offered to pay off some of Syria's debt. Image designed by freepik.com What I said in December: Title: Mistakes: Can we correct, repent, offer reparations, and remember? Today I explore whether we can and do forgive past leaders for their mistakes. “ The American administration made many mistakes against other peoples. Will every American citizen, every American soldier be asked: “Why were you with them? Why were you with them?” He will respond, saying that there was an administration, and there were inherent circumstances unique to this time and place that imposed on me to be here. Administrations are making bad decisions. The American people ca...

The White House has a dark history. Should it really be called white? And no, the inhabitants of Easter Island did not commit ecocide. What Other People Say “"I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves”, Michelle Obama, former first lady at the Democratic National Convention Speech, 2016 “In just a few centuries, the people of Easter Island wiped out their forest, drove their plants and animals to extinction, and saw their complex society spiral into chaos and cannibalism.” Diamond Jared, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, 2005  What Do I Think? I need to be more intentional about absorbing, remembering, and using facts that are rooted in actual historical narratives—not just the ones that are convenient or popular. AI-generated composite image by ChatGPT (2025). Unbury — Who really built the White House?  Looking back, it should’ve been obvious. Construction of the White House began in 1792, on land ceded by Virginia and Maryland—two slavehold...

Everyone, even me, makes three recycling and composting mistakes. First, toss an item into the wrong container. Second, throw away money (literally) by spending more because we believe the item is “greener”. Third, misalign intent and action.  Wrong Container “Dad, where do I toss this?” I looked at the trash can, recycling bin, and compost bin under our kitchen sink. Then I looked at the empty take out clamshell takeout container with its confusing and faint labels. I had no idea and I have two environmental degrees. ChatGPT. (2025). Cartoon of a person deciding where to dispose of a clamshell food container at an airport. [AI-generated image]. OpenAI. Oscar couldn’t help me either. I had stumped him recently. [ Oscar is Seattle airport’s AI-waste sorting technology that is supposed to help me figure out where to put my waste.] Let’s break down my kitchen dilemma. The clamshell container was white, looked and felt like plastic. On the bottom was the product name that included the...

“There are other forces in this world, Frodo, besides that of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it, and that is an encouraging thought.” — Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring What Do I Think? Gandalf’s words to Frodo reflect an age-old debate: Are we merely playing out a script that has already been written, or do we have the power to shape our own destinies? The struggle between free will and predestination is not just a historical theological debate—it is playing out in society and governance today. It impacts how we interpret success and failure, in how we justify actions, and out day-to-day decisions. Designed by Freepik Christianity has long been divided on this question. Strict Calvinists embrace predestination, the idea that God has already determined who will be saved and who will be damned. In contrast, strict Arminians believe in free will, asserting that while They know what we will choose, the Almighty ...

News 1 : A ruthless and determined enemy force of 30 to 40 fighters attacked the U.S. base at 5:20am. In just a few minutes, the U.S. sustained three casualties. A U.S. Army specialist was killed when a rocket propelled grenade destroyed a truck he was driving. Two contract pilots died when their plane caught fire during take off after it was barraged by small arms fire and a rocket propelled grenade. The enemy force destroyed six U.S. aircraft, one allied aircraft, several vehicles, and other property. The U.S. and its ally engaged the enemy fighters for several hours before they withdrew leaving behind six dead. News 2 : The desert wind whipped sand against the canvas of the supply canvas cover. The U.S. sergeant squinted, his eyes watering, as he guided his string of camels through the treacherous terrain. The humped animals, though stubborn, were faring better than the exhausted mules they'd replaced to haul military supplies. A sudden, sharp crack echoed across the hills, foll...

Consider these three quotes, each regarded as the word of God within their respective religious traditions: "inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the scriptures. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction." “And kill them wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you, and oppression is worse than killing.”  “Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” Image by macrovector on Freepik . Before you scroll down to identify the sources (think spoiler), consider what they collectively mean and imply.  What Do I Think When it comes to understanding sacred texts, I find myself navigating between three perspectives. First, that these texts are not exactly what God revealed but rather what men (intentionally gender-specific here, since religious scholars and leaders have historically been male) have altered over time to serve their own interests...

"All the world's a stage" monologue from As You Like It by William Shakespeare (Act II, Scene VII): "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts. His acts being seven ages.  At first the infant, mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like snail, unwillingly to school.  And then the lover, sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad made to his mistress' eyebrow.  Then a soldier, full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard. Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel. Seeking the bubble reputation, even in the cannon’s mouth.  And then the justice, in fair round belly, with good capon lined. With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws, and modern instances;  And so he plays his part.  The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slippered pantaloon. With ...

When I think of limits on free speech, I usually think of public safety (like not shouting "fire" in a crowded theater) or speech that directly harms or credibly threatens someone. But two questions really stand out: (1) Is retribution for free speech a form of free speech? (2) Where do we draw the line between these logical limits on free speech and just plain irresponsible speech? I never thought I'd quote Idi Amin Dada, the former President of Uganda, especially since he expelled all non-native Ugandans, including many of my own family members from the country in the early 1970s. But the dictator’s words still ring true half a century later: “There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech.” --- Idi Amin (former President of Uganda, Inaugural Speech, 1971),  What Do I Think? Idi Amin's statement reflects those of past, present, and future global dictators, kings, or those who want to be kings. Growing up in Kenya in the 1980s, I understood t...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion… U.S. Constitution, 1st Amendment, 1791 Until 2025, I had unwavering faith in the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Its promise that the government could not favor one religion over another seemed clear and straightforward. This is common practice in other countries that have a state-sponsored religion: Church of England, Islam in Egypt, or Buddhism in Thailand). Some State constitutions like Washington’s reinforced this principle. It says ““No public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise or instruction, or the support of any religious establishment.” — Washington State Constitution, Section 11 In high school, studying mandatory U.S. Government, we dissected the distinction between government actions and private ones. Christmas trees at shopping malls or Rockefeller Center? Fair game for private entities. But public schools? That was another matter entirel...