With Congress expressing so much concern about Russian interference in the 2016 election, it’s surprising to read the U. S. Senate  turned down a proposal to spend additional money to secure our voting system.  Certainly, we have fallen behind in maintaining both it and the nation

A former student of mine, now in his early 60s, visited me for coffee, recently.  We tried to avoid discussing politics, but it was the elephant in the room. Eventually,  my “young” friend admitted he found the antics in Washington, D. C. depressing.  Knowing he was a liberal D

How in the world did our Supreme Court come to the conclusion that corporations were people? Citizens United  The debate over whether they are or not had been going on for 200 years, though I little knew it.  As late as 1914, in a case before the Michigan Supreme Court, a brewery lo

As one who supports a woman’s right to choose, I listen to speculations about whether or not the U. S. Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that granted a woman the right to an abortion.  Some pundits are complacent.  They argue that after 45 years, Roe v. Wade

  Sometimes, I forget a web larger than the world-wide web exists.  You know the one I’m talking about. Nature, that place where every action has an equal and opposite reaction.  That place where a butterfly flaps its wings in Argentina and Japan suffers a tsunami.  To be ho

Ronald Inglehart, University of Michigan professor, makes a strong case for the cyclical nature of populism in a democratic society.  (“The Age of Insecurity, by Ronald Inglehart, Foreign Affairs, May/June 2018, pgs. 20-28.)   He argues populism thrives during periods of change,

Of course it’s true, the rich are different from you and me.  They have more money.  That aside, if you look closely into any tribe, you’ll find quirkiness.  The art world is no exception.  Where else but there would an expert who is in jail for art forgery, hold court with di

With colleges and universities touting their science and technology departments over humanities and the arts, a person could forget how much fun living the life of Indiana Jones (Click) can be — minus the poison darts, of course.  But it is possible to live the life if one has

In the 1960s, I toured Makerere University in Uganda.  Later, during that visit, I found myself seated at dinner beside one of the African instructors.  The country had recently won its independence, and the gentleman was not only ebullient about the future, he was a virulent critic

In a recent article, Megan McArdle, a onetime Ralph Nader supporter now turned Libertarian, argues the time has come to throw out  Row v. Wade, the High Court decision that made abortion legal in the United States.  (Click) To support her position, she points to Ruth Bader Ginsberg