Ticks, those tiny arachnids that feed upon blood and leave their calling card in the form of Lyme disease, arrive with the warm weather and thanks to global warming, they are extending their habitat, bringing “novel and emerging tick-related viruses with them.”  (“The Tick Pred

Ralph Nader writes about erosions in tort law which limit the ability of a citizen to be heard in court.  (“Suing for Justice,” by Ralph Nader, Harper’s, April 2016, accepts 57-62.)  A tort, which goes back to Roman times, is the due process an individual can exercise to redr

Media headlines are like cow pies in a country field.  Their purpose is to create a stink that attracts attention.  Truth is often a causality.   I’ve felt the sting of phony headlines as an elected official.  When I refused to relocate my office to the 14th floor of a new high

Picasso enjoys a lock on the minds of art lovers like no other. A majority of artists, like me, spend the bulk of our lives canoeing against the tide of indifference.  Our work is seldom seen and seldom admired beyond friends and family.  Little wonder that we seldom consider the do

A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT TO BLOG READERS Ballet Noir_ Front Cover- My fourth novel, Ballet Noir will be released April 14.  For the fist time ever, I am able to offer a pre-publication discount of 10%.  Order before April 14: http://www.blackrosewriting.com/romance/ballet-noir.  PRE

What most Americans know about foreign policy and life in other countries comes largely through war.  My mother, a Costa Rican by birth, has spent much of her existence fuming at America’s ignorance about other countries.  As a teen ager, I thought she was being un-American.  As

Today marks the 6th year anniversary of this Write Away Blog,  Tomorrow begins year number 7 of sharing my thoughts, 5 days a week, with hundreds of readers from around the globe.  Some of you have been with me almost from the beginning.  I am humbled by your loyalty and am always

Advertorial is a new word in the journalist’s lexicon.   Many of us read advertorials without realizing it, unless our eyes notice the tiny word sponsored at the corner of the computer screen or see, special section in a magazine.  What the reader is looking at isn’t news but a

Abuses against women abound in the world, not only in times of war but as a condition of ordinary life.  Pakistan’s bill to ban child marriages  recently died because the Council of Islamic Ideology “declared the legislation un-Islamic.” (Excerpted from the Washington Post by

Medical treatments can be both miraculous and a curse.  We’ve all marveled at commercials where a drug’s side effects seem worse than the ailment.  I had a graphic experience last week.  My doctor proposed shooting dye up my arm as part of an examination.  Unfortunately, the d