Are too many on Capitol Hill over the hill? I haven’t been writing blogs as often as I did a year or two ago, mostly because the world, especially the political world, has gone wacky. I can’t even make fun of this wackiness anymore, because these people are serious, and there are a lot of them out there. I should be enthused that, at this point, at least, two dudes much older than I will probably be [...] READ MORE
Will artificial intelligence mimic a human's sense of humor? It seems that, all of a sudden, artificial intelligence is about to change life and humanity as we know it. Who is going to need writers, poets, artists, musicians, composers, philosophers, and even preachers when artificial intelligence is about to mine the best we have within us, including any thoughts and theories ever recorded or visuals created on canvasses and movie screens since the first stick figures were [...] READ MORE
So much to be angry about and so little time. Okay, everybody. I just want you to tune in and mellow out, as they said in the commune before it was time-shared into a condo. Take a few deep breaths and count to ten. Now tell me, as calmly as you can: Why are we all so angry? Why all the sputtering and spitting? Have things really reached such a sad state? How is it that we’ve [...] READ MORE
Recovering from a stroke—an attack on the brain—is a tough way to run for the U.S. Senate. The most indelible story of the recent midterm election, other than what appears to be a rejection of election denial and most candidates running on that premise, might be called the Ballad of John Fetterman. It revolved around the stroke that befell him just four days before the May Primary from which he emerged with the Democratic nomination for one [...] READ MORE
Despite jokes about dead people voting, election security is strong. It’s been quiet on the American front for many years now. Or so it seems. Even as I absorb the reality of observing three quarters of a century of a blessed life, I don’t think of myself as having lived through any great historical movements that dramatically changed the course of American life. Looking back, I guess when something is part of your past you don’t think [...] READ MORE
Sometimes the scale is tipped by a heavy-handed grip. I recently reported on Facebook that a book I wrote is about to be published. I received my printed copy —the first off the press—at the beginning of this week, and its availability is scheduled to be announced in a week to ten days. I have been working on rounding up names of family and friends, along with their email and postal addresses, to whom I’ll ask the [...] READ MORE
Roger Ailes transformed FOX News into a voice of Republican conservatism. The whole thing is insulting. In fact, it’s deranged. And we’re not playing along. This is the only hour on an American news channel that will not be carrying their propaganda live. They are lying, and we’re not going to help them do it. —Tucker Carlson, FOX News Commentator on why his network did not cover the opening prime time hearing of the January 6 Committee. [...] READ MORE
It’s time to stop pledging allegiance to the Grim Reaper of Russia! Trump and his allies insist that Russia would never have invaded Ukraine were he still president. And Russia did not make aggressive moves on his watch, something former aides and others credit to his erratic behavior and direct threats that left world leaders uncertain of how Trump would respond to a provocation. —Associated Press (March 29, 2022) The attempt of the Trump-inspired “America First” campaigns [...] READ MORE
Digging up the dirt on the latest judicial candidate. We’ve all been told that judges are supposed to be nonpartisan and objective in their decisions, basing their opinions on legal precedent (a.k.a. applicable law) as it currently exists. That applies to the U.S. Supreme Court down to the lower courts, including the county Court of Common Pleas and the lowest rung of the Pennsylvania ladder, Magisterial District Judges, numbering four in my mostly rural county and into [...] READ MORE
Digging up the past helps us understand who we are as a nation. I fear patriotism is presented as a false choice. It seems that for many, to be patriotic is to remember and celebrate only our nation’s triumphs. To choose otherwise, to choose to remember our failings, is thus somehow anti-American. — Ken Burns Ken Burns, in the introductory quote, was referring to the only National Historic Site in the United States with the word “massacre” [...] READ MORE
