Eternal punishment is the final destination of the wicked. Do we wish to put that price on a finite felony? I ask that question in order to ask another. This is because the question has come up more than once in my capacity as an employer: What is the purpose, in the hiring process, of […]

“[H]ave tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, But, bear-like, I must fight the course.” ~Macbeth, William Shakespeare, 1606 Bear-baiting is a blood sport involving the encouragement/force of a dog and chained bear [chained to a stake by the neck or leg] fighting (baiting). … Bear-baiting was very popular in Europe from the 12th […]

December 14 Дорогой Борис, You asked for “3 or 5 sentences” on this article by Max Hastings, but it might take a few more than five sentences to address its points properly. First, I have to agree with Hastings that secession of certain states along red-blue ideological lines is possible, but not immediately likely. But […]

Disclaimer: I can’t speak for people of color and I don’t pretend to. But the recent critiques of Critical Race Theory have annoyed me to the point that, even though I am not directly affected by it, I cannot stay silent regarding the logical fallacies and illogical fault-finding with CRT. Here are my thoughts. I […]

I was reading Pres. Biden’s speech to joint session of Congress on Wednesday (4/28/21) and I came away with the impression that he’s a nice old man, but he’s not serious. Not serious and not up to the challenge of governing these Divided States of America. In his speech, Mr. Biden covered a lot of […]

LETTER TO BORIS† January 31 Дорогой Борис, Now that the election and insurrection are over, I feel it is safe to write to you. What must you think today of your adopted country? Surely you must believe we are ruled by madmen and madwomen? The thought has certainly crossed my own mind! It’s as if […]

Donald Trump has caused lasting damage to our country and our democracy, or at least to what many of us believed our country to be. But, unlike the slick charlatan who preceded him, DJT has pulled back the shroud on the rotting corpse of our Republic and revealed the maggoty remains. In that, he has […]

The following is a letter I wrote to my Congressional Representative— The Hon. Jamie Raskin US House of Representatives 412 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Greetings to you, Congressman Raskin. My wife and I own property in your district, although we vote in another. Sadly, we have no choice there but a Republican, […]

LETTER TO BORIS† November 30 – the 185th birthday of Mark Twain Дорогой Борис, You say in your earlier email, after noting that ¾ of all Rembrandt paintings are forgeries, “it's always good to keep in mind that absolutely all the masterpieces of world music, painting and architecture were created UNDER MONARCHIES, and not under […]

LETTER TO BORIS† November 23 Дорогой Борис, I’m happy that you introduced me to Александр С. Грибоедов (Alexander Griboyedov), who was, in addition to being a playwright, poet and composer, an ambassador to Persia, serving Emperor Nicholas I. I was also pleased to discover a new (to me) Latin descriptor: homo unius libri, meaning “a […]

LETTER TO BORIS† July 23 Дорогой Борис, I see you have sent me a video of the Russian Army invading Italy with Italian masterpieces of opera in choral style. You point out that in this way, Russian agents secretly distribute militaristic ideas among all nations. Seeing the grateful Italian audience applaud this propaganda, supposedly intended […]

I grew up super-religious. ... And I’m now an atheist. And the reason why I’m an atheist is because of education. ... I made my own decision because I was empowered to do so.

But what about Russian aggression? If you consider how aggressively Russia has located itself so close to Europe...

In 1917 and 1918 labor leader Eugene V. Debs did speak about oppressors and tyrants who wrapped themselves ‘in a cloak of patriotism or religion, or both.’

If you’re not Antifa, doesn’t that make you a fascist?

“Ugly” is what fascists do best. Whether or not “inevitably,” I agree that “Ugly things will get less ugly … hopefully.”

If only “Democratic Unity” meant something to Progressives, like me, other than “My Way or the Highway.”

As inevitably happens when fact bites faith, fact wins. Always. If nothing fails like prayer, as Dan Barker amusingly points out, nothing bites like reality.

To the Hon. Sen. Ben Cardin, Sir: It pains me to point out that the information you have emailed to your constituents is incomplete; some of it is plain wrong. Your statement that the CARES Act provides “direct payments of $1,200 per month to those with lower incomes” is incorrect: the $1200 is a one-time […]

Imagine, if you will, an economic system in which 99% of the people make 50% of the money and 1% of the people own the other 50% of the money. Imagine further that the share of the 1% keeps increasing because they control so much of the economy that they can buy the legislators, subvert […]

I quote from The Guardian this morning: Sanders said last month he was “disgusted by the idea that Michael Bloomberg or any other billionaire thinks they can circumvent the political process and spend tens of millions of dollars to buy our elections”. Warren has warned that elections should not be “for sale”. In response Bloomberg argued […]

“Why the Democratic Party Is So Fed Up with Tulsi Gabbard” My take on an 11/22/19 Yahoo News article— Pete Buttigieg did say he was willing to send our troops to Mexico to fight the cartels. Trump said much the same after some Mormon missionaries were murdered there. Only Mayor Pete had to walk back […]

“Obamacare Is Working” “The uninsured rate has dropped from 19.3% before the ACA to 12.4% now.” My take on a 11/21/19 Yahoo News article... Number of uninsured + underinsured (that is, people with health insurance who can’t afford to use it): 87,000,000 (2018). Number of medical bankruptcies: 62.1% of all bankruptcies were caused by medical […]

“Obama Warns Contenders About Leaning Too Far Left” My take on a 11/16/19 Yahoo News article... This is rich coming from a president who, in eight years, saw the loss of 1,000 Democratic seats at all levels of government. I suggest he (and Hillary Clinton) shut up. Mr. Obama's legacy is exactly why we got […]