Category: Society

The Ides of March are Upon Us

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A Few Things to Contemplate in This Time of Warning

Beware the Ides

Most of us, even those who were not literature majors nor regular readers of Shakespeare, remember the phrase “Beware the Ides of March.” Well, that time on the calendar is almost here. Let’s look at a couple of things that are indeed worthy of our wariness.

The Havana Syndrome

A report is in from an interagency intelligence task force on the mysteries set of symptoms that have beset American diplomats and others overseas with a baffling and debilitating set of medical problems.

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January 21,2023

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Presidents, Trains, Insurrection,  and Talking to the Animals

President Carter

As this is being written, it has been announced that President Jimmy Carter is going home for hospice care. It appears we will lose him in the near term. Always sad to note a death, even for a long life of contributing and living values, but at 98 all indications are that he has decided it is time leave this realm.

Carter is a most interesting person. I voted for him, and glad that I did, but his administration had a good dose of errors,

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Say You are Not Interested in Sports?

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Same for Me, Pretty Much. But Here are a Couple of Stories for Us All

The Fall of Sports

There was a time when I was pretty interested in sports. That is true for a lot of people, especially guys. But the last couple of decades have left me cold. It seems that professional sports consist mostly of millionaires (players) arguing constantly with billionaires (owners) and neither group cares much about the fans or the communities that host teams.

It’s all about money, power, and fame. Far too many players reject their roles (and obligations) as role models.

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February 7, 2023

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Politics, Drones, and Sports – Competition Abounds

The New Democratic Primary Calendar and the Old Republican One

The Democrats made the expected change and rearranged their primary calendar in a big way. Some thoughts about all that:

  • It is way past time to make such a change. Setting the pace with Iowa and New Hampshire has made no sense for a very long time. I personally like the Iowa caucus model, and New Hampshire’s tradition of just about everyone personally meeting the candidates has appeal. But neither state is representative of the country at large,

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Thoughts on 3 Countries, 1 Forest – and a Jar

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January 31, 2013 – The New Year is Already a Month Old and Full of News

New Zealand

Like many people around the world, I was disappointed and saddened to learn of the resignation of NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. She had justifiably caught the world’s attention as a bright, bold leader, a young female just starting a family and while she was at it, dealt with a deadly plague and terrible gun violence effectively.

Her departure could be a complicated set of rationales – hard to tell what was most important. She no doubt felt that as a female leader and a young leader,

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Six Views for Your Consideration

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Security, Books, Pizza, and More

Securing Classified Documents

We have heard in recent days, and will hear a lot more, about classified papers on the loose at the presidential level. There are elements yet to be resolved on the Biden end; we know the story on Trump. Still, we know enough overall to call out the following essential elements.

  • Both cases involve mishandling of classified data. That is serious and has to be treated as such. As noted below, there are important differences in these two cases, but appointing a Special Prosecutor for both has its merits.

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That Was Quite a Year!

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Politics (and Its Many Step-Children) Never Had a Dull Day This Year

The Year That Was

I was tenuous about writing this, since when you receive it we will still have five days left in the year and anything could happen. Still, it is almost a wrap for 2022.

Lots of other publications are doing The Year in Review this week. This one is more modest – we are just going to recall a very few but very important things from this year in politics. What a year this has been.

What a year 2023 is likely to be.

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Tis the Season of Peace on Earth

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Let’s Talk About War and Conflict – But in a Good Way

Say What?!

I expect the second line in the heading for this blog caused a bit of confusion. How could one talk about war and conflict “in a good way?”

Bear with me as I try to make the case. In general terms, who wouldn’t want peace on Earth? Unfortunately, we are not there yet as a species. We still have no shortage of evil-doers who are all too ready to inflict pain, death, and suffering on others for the most unacceptable reasons (greed,

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Tis the Season of Politics, Family, Science – and More

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Assorted Issues and Observations to Share

Thanksgiving

 I can never think about Thanksgiving without remembering the now iconic column written by journalist/humorist Art Buchwald, explaining the holiday to the French (he was assigned to Paris at the time, with the Herald Tribune). He closed the column with two very true observations – this is the one day of the year almost the entire country eats the same things and – it is the one day of the year Americans eat better than the French.

I made a harvest pie this year for thanksgiving,

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Observations on Occurrences of Note

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The Past Week or So Left Us a Lot to Think About

Pelosi and Team Step Down

Not unexpectedly, Speaker Pelosi announced this week that she was stepping down as party leader in the House after a 20 year run. Her two key deputies did the same. A few points to highlight:

  • It was a gracious and classy speech.
  • This marks the end of what could well be the most effective Speakership ever. She has been a remarkable leader because, as is often said, she does so many things so well.

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