Francis Fukuyama has drawn an interesting comparison between the once US Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.  In his view, both are populists  with a broad appeal to  low income white males. (“American Political Decay or Renewal?” by Francis Fukuyama, Foreign

Because fasting seems to improve health in mice and rats, some folks have decided to spend their days in similar fashion, existing on sips of air. Fasting, as writer Jennifer Alsever explains, deprives the body of glucose and forces it to steal ketones from the liver.  Ketones are a

If there is a truth in this world, it is that media reports can seldom be taken at face value.  Note the recent article from Fox News. (Click)  It speaks of an FBI gag rule that prevented agents from revealing facts about Hillary Clinton’s emails.  The implication of a cover-up i

The Brexit vote takes England a step away from globalization and may cause other nations to look longingly at the good old days of fixed borders and national sovereignty.  In England’s case, that longing may destroy the United Kingdom, because Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales m

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