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LATEST ARTICLES ( 1397 )

• Afghanistan’s Bitter Lessons

  

  Craig Whitlock’s book, The Afghan Papers: A Secret History of the War, is a depressing litany of what went wrong — reading as if everything did. Is this a... Read more

  Posted on 04 October 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Crazies Rule: The State of Play in Congress

  

  Republicans have repeatedly cynically harmed America by playing the government shutdown card. Democrats, with narrow Congressional majorities, managed to head... Read more

  Posted on 01 October 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• What is Love?

  

  I enjoy reading “Dear Abby.” Though her answers are often insipid, the letters are a window into human psychology. Not that they’re necessarily representative;... Read more

  Posted on 28 September 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The Stolen Election of 2024

  

  The 2020 election was not stolen. The 2024 election may be.We’re learning more about January 6 and what led up to it. One aspect was Trump’s mental illness.... Read more

  Posted on 25 September 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Trump Versus Biden Versus China

  

  His first day in office, Trump handed China a giant victory by nixing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal we’d expressly created to blunt China’s... Read more

  Posted on 22 September 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Brimfield’s Great Flea Market, and China’s Great Cultural Revolution

  

  Brimfield MA’s antiques flea market, several times yearly, is gigantic. My wife and I hadn’t gone in years, but decided to visit on September 10. About two hour... Read more

  Posted on 18 September 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Did 9/11 Change America?

  

  September 11 fundamentally changed America — or so we’re told, in a flood of 20th anniversary commentaries. I’m not so sure.Much is made of 9/11’s moment of... Read more

  Posted on 14 September 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• How Much is a Life Worth? A 9/11 Movie

  

  It seemed an odd subject for a film: the story of the 9/11 victims’ compensation fund. But Worth explores the issue of how we value a life. Read more

  Posted on 11 September 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Biden’s Trumpian Foreign Policy

  

  For four Trump years we had a bull-in-a-china-shop foreign policy. An ignoramus thinking himself a genius — a deadly combination. His “America First” policy so... Read more

  Posted on 06 September 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• “The Stranger” — Does Anything Matter?

  

  “Mother died today.”That’s the opening line of Albert Camus’s novel, The Stranger. When I started reading it, my own mother had died a few days before.His... Read more

  Posted on 03 September 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Lessons of Afghanistan: Cynicism Versus Humanism

  

  “Hubris” is the word of choice to sneer at America’s global engagement. Now we’re scolded that we arrogantly deluded ourselves we could do good in Afghanistan.... Read more

  Posted on 30 August 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• If Civilization Goes out

  

  I’m not one of those pessimists believing humanity is riding for a fall. We’ve proven remarkably good at overcoming challenges and improving our condition. Read more

  Posted on 26 August 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Black Holes and Humanity

  

  The force of gravity is proportional to mass and diminishes with distance. When a star dies, there’s a lot of mass in a pretty small space, and no more force... Read more

  Posted on 22 August 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Afghanistan Disaster

  

  President Biden decided that 20 years of commitment to Afghanistan was enough, so he’d pull out our few thousand troops. Never mind that we’ve had tens of... Read more

  Posted on 17 August 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• When Politics Gets Bloody

  

  Isabel Allende’s Long Petal of the Sea is a meaty, old-style novel, centered around historical events. It begins with Spain’s 1936-39 civil war. Read more

  Posted on 15 August 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Meeting the Second Gentleman

  

  Doug Emhoff is America’s first second gentleman — spouse of our first female vice president. I recently attended a reception with him in New York. Read more

  Posted on 12 August 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• God’s Holy Apostolic Church of Sex Criminals

  

  As an atheist I have little use for clergy. But I recall a positive vibe when Howard Hubbard, then just 38, became Albany’s Bishop in 1977. A “street priest,” h... Read more

  Posted on 09 August 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The Deepening Republican Menace

  

  During Trump’s term, I’d periodically write, “It will get worse.” It always did. And it hasn’t stopped.Some thought Trump’s election defeat might bring... Read more

  Posted on 05 August 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Between Two Kingdoms

  Suleika Jaouad’s book is one of those cancer memoirs. But with a difference.She had it bad. A lot of health red flags that she ignored, and then doctors... Read more

  Posted on 20 June 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY

• What Does “systemic Racism” Mean?

  

  Black Republican Senator Tim Scott said America is not a racist country. I used to agree, seeing our few remaining racists as backward people who didn’t count... Read more

  Posted on 15 June 2021 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY