Introduction

About a year and a half ago, I ran across one of my old high school buddies on the internet. We hadn't been in contact since we graduated back in 1963, so we had a lot of catching up to do. Truth be known, we hadn't known each other all that well in the old days but, by now, we have become fast friends. Funny thing is that we have very little in common, in fact we are on the opposite sides of most issues, yet we seem to be able to discuss those issues in a fairly rational and dispassionate manner, which is kind of unique nowadays. We have been communicating exclusively by e-mail because both of us were tired of the abusive and insulting dialog that has become so common in both  cyberspace and in the real world of today. Nevertheless, we recently decided that our ponderings and permutations are just too good not to share, and that the world would become a better place if everybody else would follow our shinning example. Neither of us are spring chickens anymore and, all too soon, we will belong to the ages. Will we be remembered for our wit and wisdom, or will we be buried under the ash heap of history? Only time will tell, but we'll never know if we don't try.

Ken and I grew up in a decent neighborhood on the South West Side of Chicago. I was exposed to rural living at an early age and quickly decided that was what I wanted to do when I grew up. Ken, on the other hand, was a city boy at heart, and still is. He ended up living in a high rise apartment downtown, and I ended up living in a modest home in the swamps of Northern Michigan. Politically, I like to think of myself as a reactionary, but I get tired of trying to explain to people what that means, so I usually tell them that I'm a conservative. Ken is a self described liberal who marched in protest demonstrations during the Vietnam era, while I marched with the U.S Army in Berlin, Germany. Our discussions have helped us to understand what was going on in each other's heads in those days so that we have both become more tolerant of diverse and dissenting opinions. May they do the same for you.