Situational dynamics is a proven way to seduce  good people into doing bad things, a discovery that began as an experiment and was later documented in The Lucifer Effect, by Phillip Zimbardo in 2007.  The study upon which the book was based, and which will be dramatized this month a

There’s a gaggle of men, all over 90,  who hang together at my retirement center.  Often, I join them for coffee and the laughter can get pretty rowdy.  Sometimes, though, I’ll find one of them dozing in an overstuffed chair in the lobby.  Whichever one it is, I always hope he

Walking the streets of my new neighborhood, I saw a sign posted on a telephone pole.  The notice announced a tenants’ rent control meeting.  I could understand why such a gathering was necessary.  Thanks to gentrification, affordable housing has declined at an alarming degree, sh

Donald Trump has probably done more to recruit converts to the political process than any politician in a long time. While his support base remains fixed, those in opposition to his policies are a rising tide. Many of them, as writer E. J. Graff points out, are new to citizen activism

Hope springs eternal.  While Donald Trump and Kim Jung-un are playing chicken with life on the planet as we know it, two good outcomes follow.  First, Trump’s rhetoric diverts us from thinking about his Russia connection, and second, young men, ages 20-25, who want to look good in

As the saying goes, “It’s an ill wind that blows no good.”  Despite the war of nerves Donald Trump is playing with  North Korea’s leader, Kim Jung-un, bad political news means good business for some.  Since North Korea launched a missile that could reach the United States,

When I wrote the latest version of my will, my attorney noted I’d made no provisions for my ashes.  Nonplussed, I asked, “Doesn’t the funeral parlor dump them?” As the deceased-to-be, my lawyer’s question struck me as impertinent.  I don’t pay taxes once I’m dead.  Wh

The memoir I’m writing touches upon my travels in Africa in the 1960s.  In it, I admit never having seen a lion in the wild.  I did hear one, once, under unpleasant circumstances.  But that story is yet to be written.  I can only remark that in the veld, a lion’s roar carries

While the U.S. government sits on its hands and does little to regulate tech monopolies, (Blog 8/16/17) Europe takes an aggressive stand.  For example, The European Commission has hit Apple with a claim for $13 billion in back taxes; Uber faces criminal charges for unlicensed taxi 

As I noted recently, tech monopolies are a growing concern in Europe, though not in the United States. (Blog 8/10/17). American consumers are content because: 1) a variety of merchandise is available with a mouse click; 2) purchases arrive at the speed of light; and 3) those purchases