We spend our middle adult years protecting our children. Indeed, parenting represents the most expensive and difficult responsibility of our lives. We baby-proof our houses. We warn them about the dangers of living in the 21st century. We educate them … Continue reading
For the first time in our lives, we have experienced a universal international event, known as Covid-19. The World Series doesn’t come close to being a global event. The World Cup and the Olympics are much more global, but even … Continue reading
I do not feel like a privileged person today when I watch Olympic competitions. These young white, black, and Asian athletes from around the world have been given incredible opportunities to train and specialize in their events. When I should … Continue reading
The pandemic has festered for 20 months and fostered more than 760,000 deaths in the United States. One of them was my mother-in-law. I know many others who have lost loved ones. More than 47,000,000 cases have been documented in … Continue reading
The COVID-19 coronavirus is a novel virus, and everybody who claims they have it figured out is living under an illusion. Our knowledge is growing, but it is still very fragmented. Our local politicians have been cautious because of the … Continue reading
“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 quote requires no citation for those in my age bracket. These are, in fact, the only words … Continue reading
The modern eugenics movement is attributed to Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911), a half-cousin of Charles Darwin. Perhaps better known as the Father of Psychological Testing, Galton argued that the human gene pool could be improved, natural selection explicitly facilitated, and … Continue reading
While visiting a breathtaking butterfly exhibit in the south, we saw two large rare butterflies, apparently mating. The interpreter, however, indicated that at this stage of their late adult lives, they were no longer fertile. One observer in our group … Continue reading
Shortly after leaving home last summer for a relaxing week at the beach, I noticed a white sports car in our rear view mirror, approaching with great speed. My guess is that they were doing triple digits. I said a … Continue reading
When I finished my graduate study and moved out of Buffalo, NY to take my first full-time professional job at the University of Missouri, I called my telephone company to discontinue my landline service. After being put on hold while … Continue reading
I was a late adopter of Facebook. I had a nagging fear that no one would befriend me, and that my Facebook experience would become a monologue. Of course that was irrational. I currently have 257 friends, representing my connections … Continue reading
My political interests were sparked at age 11, half a century ago, during one of the most interesting campaign seasons in recent American history. In my home we had neither a newspaper nor a news magazine. Our television reception was … Continue reading
I have had two envious work assignments in Puerto Rico, one on the northern coast and one on the southern. My experiences in both cases were picturesque and charming, as I enjoyed pleasant Caribbean springtime respites from my Western Pennsylvania … Continue reading
Churches are havens and shelters for needy humans. They contain no perfect specimens. Nevertheless, they are held to high standards and are embarrassed when their building doors are locked during a local crisis. Yet their mission goes on, and we … Continue reading
In 1992, presidential candidate Bill Clinton argued that abortion should be “safe, legal and rare.” By contrast, a March 27, 2017 article in The Washington Times was entitled, “Safe, Legal and Not So Rare,” and argued that abortion has instead … Continue reading
I maintain a “Top 20” list of my favorite novels. According to my own rules, a book is not eligible for the list until I have reread it. Without comparison, my favorite is Dostoyevsky’s The Possessed. Reading it was the … Continue reading
Adolescence was tough on me. I was a total geek, in an era before that was cool. I was a social misfit, totally uncomfortable in my high school setting. I worked out a deal with my parents and the school … Continue reading
Last month, while interviewing former senator Jim Webb, “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd labeled Webb “a rare and dying breed. A centrist and a moderate.” Todd also suggested that “The center’s been hollowed out.” Intense emotions are pervasive on … Continue reading
Don’t get me wrong. Churches are much more than just social clubs. Yet the evidence suggests that our churches need to be social clubs. One of our concerns as Christian leaders and role models is the secularization of America. We … Continue reading
Social media is used today for every purpose (and many of the posts are not particularly prosocial). Too many of the “news” stories have been slanted so far (sometimes to the right, and sometimes to the left) as to become … Continue reading
