Suicides of Armed Forces Veterans: Missing the Point Where the Point is Obvious

At the Democratic Convention last month former CIA Director and later Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was booed by many Bernie Sanders supporters as he made a speech endorsing Hillary Clinton and praising the power of the American Defense establishment....

Speed Trapping, Free Speech, Ronald Reagan, Racism and the Degradation of Policing

This piece would seem to be ostensibly about driving a car, police speed traps and protected  speech.  It is but it isn't.  What it is about, is how a philosophical shift in the public's thinking about government, has advanced the...

America’s Eternal Internal Battle is About Mythology

Let's take a timeout from this years bizarre Presidential election to look at the underlying structures of belief that inflame the passions of some and the apathy of others.  All things being equal, most people battle politically over their competing...

A Modest Proposal About Dealing With the Inevitable Effects of Climate Change.

I live in South Florida. Anyone who has been down here knows that this area is primarily the tropics,  reclaimed swamp, the Everglades and sandy beaches.  The southern part of the State is consistently flat and in the north its...

Simple Truths About America’s Iraq History: Lest We Forget

The early part of the campaign for the Presidency by those 17 Republican candidates was all about ISIS/ISIL/DAESH, whatever you want to call that terrorist group and its imminent threat to the United States. ISIS arose from the remnants of Saddam...

Is The Pledge of Allegiance Un-American?

We recognize July 4th as the date of our nation's birth.  All over this country the celebrations include patriotic speeches, flags being waved, fireworks exploding, barbecues grilling, retails store sales days selling and of course literally millions of people  reciting...

John Oliver Offers Donald Trump A Way Out Which Is A Modest Proposal Indeed

John Oliver, who as an Englishman is probably one of America's greatest comic satirists, has offered Donald Trump a way to salvage his reputation for winning, which can be destroyed by  Trump's losing this election.  Perhaps literary history's greatest satirist...

Citizens United and the First Amendment: The Catch 22 of Defending Freedom of Speech

One of the major themes supported by progressives in this years election cycle has been the overturning of the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court (SCOTUS). Those on the Left, like me, discuss this unprecedented ruling by decrying how...

Manhattan: That Magic Island is Only For the Rich These Days

Manhattan Island,  the  most famous of New York City's five boroughs,  has been eulogized in movies,  novels and song.  From 1969 until 1975 I lived in a rent controlled building in Manhattan, in the heart of its tony Gramercy Park....