I took up fencing as my sport in college.  Over time I learned to be quick, meaning my movements were subtle enough to fool my opponent.  While I performed well with fencers who were at or above my skill level, I fared miserably among those of few skills, those who imaged a sword wa

Under the law corporations are people, right?  That ruling, by the way, wasn’t the outcome of Citizen’s United.  It appeared in the 1886  case of Santa Clara vs. Southern Pacific Railroad Co. While the Supreme Court didn’t settle the railroad case on the question of personhoo

A column by Leonard Pitts appeared in the Miami Herald recently entitled,  “The End of Objective Truth.”  (The Week, September 9, 2016, pg. 12.)   His point was that falsehoods repeated over and over again gain an emotional credence that has “wrecked the idea of objective, k

Warren Buffett, the second richest man in America, says  if he dies before his wife, she should  invest her money in Vanguard’s Index Mutual Funds.  That’s a conservative investment that isn’t likely to go far wrong but is it advice for everyone?  A danger exists in being to

Sometimes I feel like a bat, viewing the world while hanging upside down.  Let’s begin with the small absurdities: that some universities are allowing African-American students to re-segregate, allowing them to choose all black housing so they can avoid, “insensitive remarks.”�

Sometime ago, I wrote about a few local, female politicians who picketed an “old boys’ club” in my community —  a place of privilege where political agendas were set without a public process.  To put an end to this exclusivity, the women decided to shine a light on what

In politics, people want access to their elected officials but when they get it, others are tempted to wonder what goes on behind closed doors.  As a former public servant, I am aware  of the opportunity for distrust.  When I served, everyone wanted to see me, it seemed.  If they

“The universe is not only queerer than we suppose but queerer than we can suppose.”  So observed J. B. S. Haldane, a scientist and popularizer of science who died in the 1960s.  Thinking about existence, I can imagine no statement more accurate than Haldane’s.  Not only are h

In October 1965, Lyndon Johnson, 36th President of the United States, held a press conference on the White House lawn to assure the public he was fully recovered from gall bladder surgery. I was glad to hear it, but watched, stupefied, as he lifted his shirt to show his scar to the me

When I was 29, I realized I had to make a decision. Almost everyone around me was married.  Was I to sail into my 30s an old maid or pick one of the two suitors available, neither of whom interested me?  Despite her failed marriage, my mother wanted me to settle.  She liked the you