I’m a student of history as most of my readers know. I delve into the past to understand the reasons for why things happened the way they did and then use those lessons to sharpen my decision making skills.

I recently watched a documentary on Walt Whitman, a  poet who was prolific during the American Civil War in the 1800s.

Here’s what I learned about this excellent artist along with my thoughts on his philosophy. » Read more: Walt Whitman – A brief essay

Perhaps this is the year when harmonious a cappella goes mainstream – which would be awesome. After enjoying Straight no Chaser’s act a couple of weeks ago, I came across this neat song, ‘Candlelight’, coincidentally right on time for Hanukkah, by the a cappella group The Maccabeats. The song derives its rhythm and its musical sensibilities from Taio Cruz’s ‘Dynamite’. Except that ‘Candlelight’ is a song celebrating Hanukkah and has already gone viral getting 1.4 million views on Youtube.

The chorus goes like this: “I throw my latkes in the air sometimes, singing ay-oh, spin the dreidel.”

In a word. Smashing! Enjoy the video here… » Read more: A Viral phenomenon – Candlelight

Everyone seems to believe that global warming is real, which is interesting as there’s pretty much only conjecture and limited scientific research to support it. There’s certainly no dispute that the climate is changing.

However, the climate on earth has changed constantly for millions of years, along with the axis and shape of the planet, all of which has a contributing factor on today’s weather. » Read more: Why Global warming elicits strong emotions

Tax time will be here soon and it’s key for folks who have been unemployed to know about what deductibles they can utilize to avoid paying more than required. Karen Hirsch, one of the members of the networking group WIND had a few tips.

Some other folks commented on the same with a couple of handy tips…

» Read more: Key Unemployment Deductibles for 2009 tax returns

I’ve always admired Sherlock Holmes and the irrefutable logic that was intrinsic to any argument or explanation that he provided to describe a situation. So, I’ve been busy trying to marry my work world with the Victorian world of Mr. Holmes. More on that shortly.

I would like to think however, that if the good sense that prevails in a Sherlockian world, we wouldn’t have this wall street fiasco that occurring right now. It’s hard to even describe how ridiculous this whole situation is. Here we have the biggest names in investment banking who played with tons of money irresponsibly and lost it all. And now, the Feds are going to bail them out with more money ( more like $700B or trillions and trillions of dollars) and just rap them on their knuckles. And, yes, the American taxpayer is going to have to fund this? What in heaven’s name is going on? What was everybody doing?

I know that the weath distribution worldwide is something like this : about 5% of the world’s population own 85% of the world’s wealth. I’m assuming about 50% of that 5% is in North America. So, what’s the deal here? Does the fact that they own tons of money mean that they don’t need to be monitored or watched? That’s what seems to have happened?

Now, I’ll wait for a couple of weeks where market experts will analyzing the situation with statements like : “If we knew then what we know now” and all and sundry will agree. It’s a stupid world…

Revisiting an old book is like taking a walk down an old haunt or place which you used to frequent. The sights, the smells and the memories still linger like a nameless fog in the air. Reading ‘ Dorian Gray’ again brought back some memories of days gone by. The book still retained its amazingly potent technique of sending chills down my spine, Dorian’s self-absorbed manner and uninhibited hedonism was repulsive as always, but there was one character whose musings and pondering led me to think, and even smile at times.

This was Lord Henry Wooten, a friend of Basil Hallward, the artist who painted Dorian Gray’s picture. » Read more: The Picture of Dorian Gray – A Faustian Tale of Temptation