Back to the Future:
Pacific Island's Cargo Cult
Mentality is Alive and Well in
Appalachia

By John Freivalds

My late wife's' father was an Air Force pilot in World War II some 70 years ago. In flying to various remote South Pacific islands he noticed some strange habits of the primitive natives living in the jungle. They had a subsistence lifestyle with little change and suddenly they saw hundreds of planes landing in their jungle and disgorging goodies they had never seen before. They wanted some as well and hacked crude landing strips out of the jungle hoping planes will see the strips, land and off load goodies. Urban westerners would laugh at this but upon reflection are we no different from the "cargo cults."

Freivalds: The theology of taxation: Martin Luther, Where Are you now that we need you?

Published 12/9/2017

By John Freivalds

Freivalds runs an international communications firm in Lexington.

We just marked the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther posting his Ninety Five Theses complaining about the practice and efficacy of indulgences in the Catholic Church. In modern parlance this allowed you freedom from God’s punishment for your sins if you purchased it with money. A theological loophole. And it’s worthwhile to reflect as we are debating the merits of new tax bill and why we need a present day Martin Luther to rescue us.

Thunder Bay a sane asylum — with Duluth as the portal

By John Freivalds

Published November 11^th, 2017

The Twin Cities media are full of advertising for Duluth tourism: Lake Superior, ocean-going vessels, Canal Park, and more. However, recent trips made by my friends and me to Canada, through Duluth, revealed a new market positioning: Duluth as a gateway to the sane asylum of Canada.

Commentary: Roads are like an all-you-can-eat salad bar

By John Freivalds

Published 10/21/2017-Lakeshore Weekly News

Three things are unavoidable in life — death, taxes and traffic. But there is something we can do about traffic if we understand what its all about.

First of all, we are traffic. The same desire we have to drive whenever and wherever we want motivates everyone. So we are not innocent in this.

Traffic is about human nature, not just cars. Every driver needs to read Tom Vanderbilt’s book “Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do and What It Says About Us.” And then go to a public hearing on road closures and quote from this book.

Why Martians Will Never Be a Threat to the American Way of Life

By John Freivalds

Published 10/18/2017-JFA Press

A Martian friend of mine just visited me. Mars is suffering from solar system warming and he came to check out how it would be living on earth in the United States. Before getting on his space ship he watched a lot of American cable TV off a satellite to try and understand our culture. He asked me can I bring my ray gun with me. I said sure, every American has a right to bear arms; a ray gun is an arm so it would be allowed. It's in the US Constitution. And organizations like the NRA make sure that the Constitution is duly honored.