(Courtesy of www.theenglightenedconservative.com)

It’s probably my imagination but  people espousing cruel ideologies seem to be crawling out of the woodwork these days, whether it’s the politician in India who insists that women who are raped should be hanged http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/14/rape-comments-india-election

“Nothing has ever given us as much pleasure as our pocket money when we were 12,” observes A. A. Gill in a recent article for Vanity Fair. (“Perfection Anxiety,” by A. A. Gill, Vanity Fair, May 2014 pgs. 120-122.) I would add, that as for the 12 year-old, the link between mon

A Facebook friend shared a poster out of eastern Ukraine, recently, that purported Jews were being required to register their passports and records of property at a makeshift government headquarters in the rebel area of the country. As the language was foreign, I had no idea whether t

My email has been flooded with petitions asking me to oppose changes to the way the federal government calculates cost of living adjustments for seniors on Social Security. Frankly I’m torn. I don’t want to lose money, but I don’t want my country to go bankrupt either.  Fortuna

While I was in public life, I wrote a pamphlet entitled, “Who’s Watching the Watchers.” The subject was media accountability. Hoping the industry would police itself struck me as naïve as thinking North Korea might give up its nuclear weapons. My proposal was to create a citize

I read recently that Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, had signed into law the right of a man to beat his wife. (Yahoonews.com) He did it, he explained, because the order was in accordance with Sharia law. Apart for the immorality of using religion as a pretext to abuse women an

Silicon Valley is leading with its chin again. Besides sexism (See Blog 7/25/12) and anti-union labor practices (See Blog 2/12/12), ageism is another charge to be added to the list of complaints.  Noam Scheiber’s article, “Over the Hill in Silicon Valley,” exposes the frat hous

A revered Buddhist monk long ago was asked what he would most regret about dying. After some thought, he answered he would miss watching clouds drift across the sky. His reply struck me as profound, nothing I might have said, though I have an answer if I am ever asked the question. I

I’ve always assumed a society should reflect the highest values of its citizen, which includes treating individuals with respect. Few would quarrel with that value, I think, until we turn our attention to the treatment of prisoners. Regrettably some people see jails as instruments o