Recently I came across a quote on a poster: “It is always the minorities that hold the key to progress.”  A catchy sentiment but not always true. Minorities that behave like thugs and bullies don’t get a pat on the back.  The Taliban is one example.  People who object to taki

Last Tuesday, I poked a stick at a gnarly question: why have women submitted to patriarchy over the centuries? I wondered if, being child-bearers, they benefited from the system. Papers on the subject no doubt exist. Even so, as a layman, I did a little “googling” on my own and ca

During the most recent surge of Covid-19, I lost track of a friend.  She didn’t answer messages left on her cell phone, landline, or email.  Naturally, I was relieved to get a message last week.  She said her doctor had hit a nerve during a medical procedure and it had caused her

“We make lists because we don’t want to die.” So says, Umberto Eco, medievalist, philosopher, and author of Foucault’s Pendulum. With lists, we attempt to manage time, knowing time is a nonrenewable resource.  A list fixes a task to memory and gives us the psychological satis

A new flashpoint in race relations is critical race theory. The intent is to review American history through the lens of slavery.  This new approach has its supporters and critics.  Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste is an eyeopener for those interested in the subject and offers insigh

Before the pandemic struck, a gentleman at my retirement center and I had talked about the progress each of us was making on our memoirs.  Listening to his story, I knew his adventures needed to be shared. So, before parting from him, I wished him well. Then, the lockdown came, and I

A woman at my retirement center has published a poetry collection. In her interview about the book, she refers to an essay by Mark Flannagan, a writer for Kirkus Review, in which he tries to define poetry.  After a few attempts, he settles for one word: imagination. Well, yes, I say

I walked into the phone store to pay my annual fee and waited for the sneer.  Mine is a flip-top, 3g, 11-year-old cell phone that gets no respect.  This time, the clerk told me the situation was code blue.  “You need a new phone. We’re going to 5g.  This one won’t work much

One evening this week, I listened to an expert’s advice on how to change the minds of unvaccinated people. He was selling an old technique called Active Listening. In this case, an individual repeats an antivaxer’s objections, so the person will be satisfied those objections have

I’d been tracking down a friend for several weeks.  She answered none of my landline or cell phone messages, nor my emails.   Naturally, I was relieved when I received her response, at last. As I feared, the news was bad. She’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and was recoveri