A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Tom Hanks portrays Mr. Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. This is a timely story of kindness over cynicism, based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and the [...]
Why I dislike the Debate Forums?
Last night because of Mike Bloomberg’s entrance into the 2020 race to become the nominee for the Democratic Party, I watched the debate. Within a few minutes, I was forcibly reminded why I historically avoid [...]
Global Impact of Coronavirus
Chinese authorities failed on a timely basis to warn about the coronavirus epidemic, endangering the world. The Wall Street Journal reported that the World Health Organization, bending to Chinese pressure, failed to declare it [...]
President Trump Raises Profound Concerns About Abuse of Power by the Executive Branch in Punishing Enemies and Favoring Allies
I concur with Trump’s critics who believe that his actions have lowered the morale of the Justice Department because he is undermining its apolitical tradition and setting up a precedent where America could become a [...]
Origins of St. Valentine Day
While the origin of St. Valentine’s Day is controversial, it is generally thought to evolve from a strange Roman tradition. From February 13-15, Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and [...]
Presidential Debates Counterproductive
The Democratic Presidential debate reinforced my previous concerns that these forums are not productive in helping our citizenry make informed decision about the most qualified candidates for our highest office. Since the 1960 debate [...]
Addressing Economic Inequality in the U.S.
A January poll by the Pew Research Center found that while 62 percent of Americans believe there is too much income inequality, only 40% believe that reducing it should rank as a top priority. [...]
Technology Giants are Dominating the Stock Market
On Thursday, Google-parent Alphabet became the fourth U.S. firm to achieve a market value of more than $1 trillion. Alphabet joins Apple, Amazon and Microsoft as the only American companies to have attained this [...]
More Women Hold Jobs in U.S. Than Men
“Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.” — B.F. Skinner In the latest job report, women held more jobs than men. The development reflects, in all likelihood, the future [...]
Why I oppose the Trump Impeachment
Introduction: As many people know I dislike President Trump on a personal basis. I voted for the Libertarian Candidate in 2016 and will probably cast another throw away vote in 2020. My attitude toward Trump [...]
Will Japan’s Economic Problems Morph into a Financial Pearl Harbor
As one would expect, stock market junkies like myself think about our prospects for 2020. After enjoying stellar returns in 2019, some analysts (not me) worry that the United States could suffer from falling [...]
The Democrats and Iran: “Why Can’t the party’s candidates admit Qasem Soleimani’s death makes America’s Safer” Joseph Lieberman
Former Senator Joe Lieberman wrote an editorial today that I largely agree with. I would like to share at least part of it and then contribute my own comments. “The president’s decision was bold and [...]
U.S. Has World’s Highest Rate of Children living in single-parent households Pew Research Dec 12, 2019
The Pew Research Center reported that For decades, the share of U.S. children living with a single parent has been rising, accompanied by a decline in marriage rates and a rise in births outside of marriage. A [...]
The Full Truth About Race and Policing
By Jason Riley, Editorial Contributor Wall Street Journal Jason Riley, a longtime member of the Wall Street Journal Editorial Staff tried to provide his perspective given the national discussion about policing and race relations. Riley [...]
What Americans Know About the Holocaust
"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it" --George Santayana Pew research uncovered the following: Most U.S. adults know what the Holocaust was Most know approximately when it happened Two-Thirds [...]
The Case Against Court Packing
The Case Against Court Packing Walter Shapiro Brennan Center For Justice Walter Shapiro of the Brennan Center for Justice made the following arguments against 21st-century court packing: It is dangerous to tamper with the mechanisms [...]
Battle of Britain: With Wings Like Eagles by Michael Korda
Michael Korda’s book, With Wings Like Eagles, relives all the exhilaration, heroism, fear, and epochal significance of the Battle of Britain. 70 years later the battle retains its deserved luster. Winston Churchill, Britain’s Prime Minister, [...]
Is America Past the Tipping Point? Protestors plan to topple a statue of Abraham Lincoln meant to commemorate his 1863 Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Memorial has drawn criticism for its “paternalistic imagery of a standing President Lincoln over a kneeling black man and his broken shackles.” Glen Foster who represented the protestors said: “ As a black [...]
The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti
Sacco and Vanzetti for a generation of Americans, the names of the two Italian anarchists, are forever linked. Questions surrounding their 1921 trial for the murders of a paymaster and his guard bitterly divided a [...]
Held Together by Prayers and Duct Tape: University Hospital of Brooklyn Lays Bare Disparity in Health System
Held Together by Prayers and Duct Tape University Hospital of Brooklyn Lays Bare Disparity in Health System By Michael Schwirtz Today’s New York Times described in detail the deplorable conditions of a Brooklyn Hospital. [...]
Stock Market Reaches All-Time High
Happy days are here again The skies above are clear again So let’s sing a song of cheer again Happy days are here again All of the major indexes have performed remarkably well in [...]
Drug Import Plan Initiated by Trump Administration
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it is taking steps to allow the import of cheaper drugs from Canada and other countries. The goal is to enable U.S. citizens to attain [...]
Remembering Paul Volcker (1927-2019)
Last week, Paul Volcker, one of our greatest Chairmen of the Federal Reserve, passed away. Volcker’s most notable accomplishment was his successful struggle to subdue inflation in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Volcker [...]
Jobs Growth Soars: It’s the Economy Stupid
On Friday the Labor Department reported that the job market enjoyed excellent performance — nonfarm payrolls surged by 266,000 and unemployment fell to 3.5%, a 50-year low. Over the past year, almost 1.7 million [...]
The Role of Investment in the U.S. Economy
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the United States has enjoyed its longest expansion. Starting in June 2009, our Gross Domestic Product has grown 25%. We now enjoy a 3.5% unemployment rate, [...]
The U.S. Gave Troubled Doctors a Second Chance, Patients Paid the Price
The U.S. Gave Troubled Doctors a Second Chance, Patients Paid the Price By Christopher Weaver, Dan Frosch and Lisa Schwartz Today’s Wall Street Journal Highlighted a horrendous scandal. That is, the Indian Health Service [...]
Federal Deficit is Unsustainable
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, November 13, 2019 In testimony before the House Committee on the Budget, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell expressed strong reservations about the U.S. federal debt. He worried that policymakers will [...]
Nobel Prize in Economics Awarded for Work on Poverty
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in economics to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer for their investigational work in fighting global poverty. The academy noted that the trio [...]
Trump’s Policy Zigzags in Mideast Undermine America’s Long -term foreign policy objectives
Over the past few days, I have read a number of articles and heard from a bi-partisan group of leaders regarding America’s abandonment of the Kurds in Syria. Stated differently, the Kurds in Syria, [...]
Signs of Global Economic Slowdown
Recently, most major indicators have turned negative. As a consequence, the global-growth slowdown has frightened investors. In recognition of this malaise, the stock market has been flat for the past 12 months. To ward [...]
Nobel Prize in Medicine: Importance of Oxygen
Dr. William Kaelin (Harvard University); Sir Peter Ratcliffe (Professor at Oxford and Director of Clinical Research at Francis Crick Institute in London); and Gregg Semenza (Professor of Medicine at John Hopkins University) won the [...]
Role of Prices in a Modern Economy
In anticipation of the 2020 elections, candidates have made campaign promises to make our country better. The high costs of a college education, medical treatment, improving our environment, housing, etc. are just some of [...]
Helping Cancer Survivors
The death of legendary journalist and political commentator Cokie Roberts from breast cancer poignantly reminds us that cancer can strike all of us. Her first bout was in 2002. Since then she worked hard [...]
America Needs a Legitimate Third Party
Over the past few days I have spent too much time following the controversy associated with President Trump’s telephone call with the newly elected Ukrainian President, Zelensky on July 25th. According to a leak from [...]
America’s Political Polarization is Almost Complete
Today’s Wall Street Journal highlighted that our two political parties now represent two different economies. Indeed, there has been a total flip-flop since my youth. I can remember when it was said that college [...]
Manufacturing Sector Contracted in August
“We do not want to be servants to the Chinese.” — President Trump Tweet, Sept. 1 Last Tuesday, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released data that showed U.S. manufacturing sector declined for the [...]