For decades I have enjoyed watching Mark Shields and David Brooks discuss important issues on the Public News Hour. Last night was especially illuminating. The conversation began with both Mark Shields and David Brooks defending [...]
The observance of the 75th anniversary of D-Day has deservedly caused universal celebration. Winston Churchill articulated the importance of defeating Hitler. It prevented us from “sinking into the abyss of a new Dark Age.” [...]
Ernie Pyle was beloved by readers and service members alike for his coverage of the war through the eyes of infantrymen on the front lines In this week’s New York Times Magazine, the article was [...]
The past few days have at one level been exhilarating. For Western leaders to celebrate the success of the greatest seaborne invasion in history is memorable in it self. Moreover, while only 4% of the [...]
Jair Bolsonaro, the president of Brazil, will not defeat crime in Brazil by tolerating militias The economists highlighted Brazil’s plagues: economic stagnation, corruption, and sickening violence. In brief, terrorists, not the civilian government, rule [...]
President Trump’s surprising announcement that starting June 10 America will impose a 5% tariff on imports from Mexico has heightened tensions not only on our Southern border but also caused global turbulence. Since taking [...]
Over the past few years, there have been major attempts to recast our image of the American Civil War. I am supportive of many of these efforts. Specifically, rather than focus on Civil War Battles, [...]
A Gallop poll last summer found that by a small margin millennials prefer socialism over capitalism. Because millennials have economic challenges attaining middle-class perks, they support populist candidates who promise universal health care and [...]
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. birthrate fell in 2018 to 3,788,235 births. We have not witnessed such a low number since 1986. The U.S. fertility rate is now [...]
The Wall Street Journal reported that our government is using Big Data, a revolutionary methodology to accumulate information about our economy in order to track our results and report their findings. Big data is [...]
I have drawn heavily from an article in the New York Times by Brad Plumer. The United Nations in a 1500 report concluded that humans are transforming Earth’s natural landscapes so dramatically that as many [...]
Trustees of Social Security have recently reported that its costs will exceed its income in 2020. This shortfall will force the program to dip into its nearly $3 trillion trust fund to cover benefits. [...]
Is the world in danger of drowning in debt? The International Monetary Fund this month issued a report highlighting its concerns about worldwide debt, which it said totals some $152 trillion. “The period of [...]
On Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy’s rate of growth slowed to an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the last quarter of 2018. This is below the 3.4 percent growth [...]
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell said that he is concerned about low inflation not only in the United States but also in other developed countries. Specifically, inflation for a significant time period [...]
“The high level of U.S. government debt is likely to mean that the U.S. economy is much more interest-rate sensitive than it has been historically.” Robert Kaplan, president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Robert [...]
I normally rewrite the material that I describe; however, in this case I have extracted much from Wikipedia because it accurately portrays the horrible abuse that was inflicted on the McMartin family. I find it [...]
I recently reread this classic and happily can report that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Halberstam made an interesting comment. When we think of the 50’s, we have an image of a black and white society [...]
"It always seems impossible until it’s done." -Nelson Mandela I recently heard a presentation on climate change and read a book “Life After Carbon” by Peter Plastrik and John Cleveland. Plastrik and Cleveland highlighted [...]
The anticipation that U.S. corporations will repurchase a record $940 billion of their stock has raised significant congressional criticism, particularly from Democratic presidential hopefuls, but also from Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. The [...]
I have just returned from a very exhilarating experience, the John Hopkins Cancer Symposium, sponsored by Erwin and Stephanie Greenberg. In brief, all of us would be elated to learn about the incredible breakthroughs [...]
This past Thursday, President Donald Trump gave an upbeat assessment of efforts to settle our trade dispute with China. Vice Premier Liu He promised China would buy more U.S. farm and energy products and [...]
President Harry S. Truman once quipped that he wanted a “one-handed” economist because all his economic advisers said, “on the one hand this, and the other hand that!” Alas, “Give ‘em Hell Harry” would [...]
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Ilan Berman wrote an editorial that frankly surprised me. In brief, Berman highlighted America’s concern that Israel’s growing political and economic relationship with China has sinister implications. Specifically, John [...]
On Thursday, the markets dropped precipitously for a variety of reasons, including Apple’s disappointing revenue projections, concerns over the Federal Reserve ‘s monetary policy, the U.S.-China trade impasse and weak U.S. manufacturing data. Stephen [...]
In the wake of the mass shootings this past week in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas, the New York Times reprinted an article (2017) that sought to explain the high numbers of mass shootings [...]
My father was educated in a one-room schoolhouse in Pearland, Texas. While certain deficiencies particularly in mathematics and foreign languages arose from such a rudimentary background, other excellent disciplines were instilled. In particular a strong [...]
The Strange Career of Jim Crow By C Vann Woodward The issue of race has always fascinated me. To understand the complexity of race relations, I read for the first time C. Vann Woodward’s pioneering [...]
The New York Times reported the appalling statistic: The police kill an average of 17 people every day in Brazil. Rogue officers are killing even more off duty For over a decade masked gunmen [...]
In looking at the Pew Research findings, one can understand why there is growing partisan divide. That is, there has been growing division in wealth between upper classes vs. middle and lower classes. Only the [...]
By Lynne Olson Personal Thoughts For me, the struggle against Fascism represented the clearest example of good versus evil. I would have loved to have actively participated on the side of those who favored [...]
By William Jacobson, Wall Street Journal Today’s Wall Street Journal printed an editorial by William Jacobson, a professor at Cornell Law School. Sadly, the behavior of both the student body and administrators of Oberlin were [...]
Ted Van Dyk, who has been active in Democratic National policy and politics for 40 years, wrote an excellent editorial for the Wall Street Journal. In brief, Van Dyk worries that despite President Trump’s [...]
On November 15th, the New York Times wrote an article Florida State Player Fled Crash but Got Only Traffic Ticket. The NYT investigative reporter found the following: On October 5th, the FSU starting cornerback [...]
As I have previously mentioned, I have thoroughly enjoyed the book The American Story by David Rubenstein. Doris Kearns Goodwin provided wonderful insights into Abraham Lincoln. She repeated a story about Tolstoy and Lincoln. Tolstoi [...]
I absolutely loved this book, Working. The author, Robert Caro, has devoted his life to writing biographies of two men, Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson. Caro is fascinated by how men amass power in a [...]
