In the virtual world, humans become real at the touch of a computer keyboard and language is what we use to define ourselves.  Governments know this.  So do commercial enterprises.  They’ve been at work developing tools to determine what our keyboard strokes  and our word choice

During an election campaign, candidates often talk about freebies, fee health care, fee higher education and the like, but how can we afford it and pay down the national debt, (Blog 6/30/16) a black hole that threatens the solvency of our nation?  This season both Democratic candidat

I stopped listening to the political analysis of David Brooks and Mark Shields on the OPB News hour long ago.  Their remarks strike me as less insightful than wisdom be gained by staring at ditch water.  But I was across the room one evening, cooking dinner, when their commentary ca

Want  help from Amazon with a purchase or a product?  Here’s the customer service number: 1-888-280-4331.  May it do you some good.  Knowing the number did little for me when I called at the  behest of two of my book readers.  Both had written reviews for my latest novels, Bal

I have no idea why Aldus Huxley titled his futuristic novel, Brave New World.  I feel anything but brave just thinking about tomorrow. Technology keeps tearing ahead of us while our brains scramble to cope.  I’ve barely become acquainted with the world of illusion, which includes

On Facebook recently,  I ran across an entry that accused Hillary Clinton of being evil, a crime boss and a killer.  As a Hillary supporter, I stopped to ask the writer for  corroboration of his charges and reminded him that even in a free society, slander is a crime.  Getting  f

When I saw the picture flash across the news screen, I presumed it was an obituary. Happily, it was a birthday announcement for Olivia de Havilland — Melanie to those who adore the film, Gone with the Wind.  She’d turned 100th on July 1.   Naturally, there were pictures of

A recent edition of AARP magazine featured three Hollywood stars who are disrupting the perception that as women age, they become invisible.  Unlike the Brits who cherish older actresses like  Maggie Smith, Judy Dench and Helen Mirron, Americans are slow to embrace the notion of cha

I had an enjoyable lunch the other day with Jane Vogel, President of Age & Gender Equity in the Arts, (AGE) an organization dedicated to challenging stereotypes about aging and gender in the arts and theater in particular.  The group awarded $30,000 this year to organizations tha

The debate goes on about whether or not psychology and other branches of social sciences are true sciences. Can their research be subjected to rigorous  methods and the data verified by other researchers? The argument, pro and con, gathered  intensity, recently, over the theory of â