Cancer’s plasticity, meaning its cells can change from one form or function to another, gives the disease its endurance and makes it difficult to cure.  Big tech has the same plasticity, morphing to address new conditions. Big tech isn’t a disease, of course, but it does have a d

We know how it feels…to be a non-being, confined in a cage..to always be known by the name of our father, brother or husband, and have no identity of our own.  This lament from an Afghan girl could be chiseled on the gravestones of most women throughout human history.  Female oppr

A gentleman at my retirement facility returned from a visit with friends in Australia recently.  One of his hosts took him to a remote part of the country where they were joined by others who were his host’s friends.  As might be expected, the conversation turned to American polit

The man had fallen near an electrified rail of a Chicago subway.  Unconscious, he lay convulsing on the bare track. People on the platform above looked down, stunned.  A few whipped out their cell phones to record the incident. One African American, Anthony Perry, age twenty, made a

As I relate in my upcoming memoir, Getting Lost to Find Home, during the rainy season in Sub-Saharan Africa deluges force creatures to rise from their holes in the earth to escape being drowned.  A person out of doors at such times is likely to encounter black mambas, scorpions, flyi

Being someone who meditates for enlightenment, I decided to bend my thoughts to the state of our democracy. My reason for doing so was this statement: the public has more confidence in the military than any other national institution. (“Crisis of Command,” by Risa Brooks et al, Fo

Dick Van Dyke’s quote made me laugh.  At age 95,  he said he doesn’t spend a minute being depressed because at his age he needs to be  “enjoying himself.”  (AARP Bulletin, October 2021, pg. 46.)  At 85, I understand his urgency.  When the road is short, it’s wise to en

At 81, I now have a pair of hearing aids, and believe me, I’d prefer not to.  If I didn’t already know life moves at a frenetic pace, I would now, judging from the noise around me.  I’ve worn these expensive devices for three weeks and I’m struggling to make the adju