Sitting down to lunch with my broker, his conversation turned to an old worry. “The national debt keeps growing.  Congress has to reign it in.” “What’s your solution?” I asked before taking a sip of coffee. “Should children of low-income families go without lunch?  Shoul

Surrounded by books in a well-trafficked bookstore, I sat down to coffee with a former student.  We’ve been meeting this way for many years.  By now, he is in his early 70s while I am staring down at 87.  Happily, we are both in robust health, and I always look forward to our con

Checking the headlines, my eyes fell upon an article about President Joe Biden’s delight in ghostbuster burgers. Ghostbusters are toxic towers of meat, cheese, red onion, pickles, and sauce. While some wonder if Biden is too old for a second presidential term, a better question

(I’m taking a lap victory by repeating my blog of November 2020, after Joe Biden’s defeat of Donald Trump.)                                      *** The 2020 election makes clear that neither political party will be setting the course for the country. Gr

  The ferry bobbed in the six-foot waves like a match stick caught in a wash cycle. While the storm outside raged, inside, passengers huddled in the middle rows of the vessel’s viewing area, away from wind gusts that could break the glass. Together, the people, white-lipped

To read the news is to wonder if the world has gone mad. Autocracy is on the rise, while democracies seem to be stumbling. To be honest, some democracies no longer look like democracies. India and Turkey come to mind.  Russia holds elections, but no one would describe Vladimir Putin

A former NATO commander has advised the United States that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a signal that our country should gear up for war.  Naturally, someone my age who lived through World War II is likely to greet this statement with horror. Worse, the means of fighting a war h

  Joe Biden and Diane Feinstein are being attacked in the media because they are old. Critics question their fitness to hold office.  As both are in the last decades of their lives, no doubt they’ve slowed down.  If they were attempting to run a triathlon, that might matter.

  George  Gascón is in for the fight of his political life. The Los Angeles District Attorney is facing a recall because he wants to reform the justice system in his county.  He’s working to end life sentences without the hope of parole and trying juveniles in adult court am

The article I was reading posed the question, “Can we prove the world isn’t a simulation?”  (by David J. Chalmers, Nautilus, Issue 42, pgs. 47.)  It’s a tech version of a long-established philosophical conundrum, “Can you prove you’re not asleep?” After finishing the a