Born and raised in the Baltimore-Washington area, I am now retired and living in a rural area with my loving wife, with our children and grandchildren not far away.
Son of a Methodist minister I am agnostic about whatever it is people "God." I find the 13.8 billion year old universe to be the wondrous, awe inspiring mystery that inspired the imaginative and colorful mythic stories we religions, the reasoned search for answers we science, and is the mysterious "Way" Taoists allude to. I think myth and science both lead us to the "truth" that compassion is the most important trait that humans have and that an obsession with self-gratification is the most troublesome trait we have. I love theists and atheists except when they try to impose their beliefs on everyone.
I believe in working to live, not living to work. Economics, work, is a means to an end, not an end in itself. I want enough to be able to enjoy being awed by the universe and all my loved ones in it.
I believe in a politics of compassion. Government and laws exist to keep greed and selfishness in check, allowing citizens to exercise their right to be. I believe in progress, which I see as the strength and will to adapt and change as we acquire new knowledge. I consider myself a "radical moderate" because I am passionately opposed to extremists of any stripe. We can't all have everything we want and must learn to work together which extremists refuse to do.
I have too many interests to list here although it should be evident that I am awed by nature. Science is a wondrous method of exploring and understanding this awesome universe. Art, in all it's forms, is the ultimate expression of our inner selves, a give we give from the bottom of our hearts. I ask too many questions; are myths and symbols our most powerful form of communication, how does the the mind work, are people the way they are, how can we be the best we can be...? and so much more...