It was about 40 years ago that I first started seeing some of what I wrote about in the following piece. I think I was in a shopping mall in Missoula, Mont., when I realized that if I hadn’t known where I was, I could have been in any of many different malls in many …
“Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.” — VOLTAIRE, 1764 It’s at least a little bit ironic to me that my brilliant French wife hates the sentiment behind this quote from the most famous of French philosophers. When Nicole was working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, one of the sayings floating arounf among scientists was the …
Sometimes it really is about the lesser of evils Read More »
“If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it.” It’s a famous quote, usually attributed to Nazi propagandist Josef Goebbels, but the fascinating thing about it is that there is a second part to the quote that is rarely repeated. “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you …
I heard my first granddaughter’s voice the day before she was born. That’s not really true, but when the little girl I called The Amazing Baby entered the world in Beijing on Sept. 19, 2008, it was still Sept. 18 in Los Angeles. She had been in the world for about five minutes when I …
“Our gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. “It measures neither …
“Freedom’s just another word …” We are in such a bad place in America these days. We are overly moral about the wrong things when it comes to the behavior of those we dislike and willing to accept anything from those on our side of the equation. And what do we get? A president who …
Is there a more miscelebrated holiday in the United States than Memorial Day? In fact, I’m not sure therte’s a more redundant holiday … unless you want to cite Veterans Day, the one it’s redundant with. I can’t help but wonder how many people know the difference between the two and why we celebrate both …
“Think of all the hate there is in Red China, then take a look around to Selma, Alabama …” Boy, was Barry McGuire premature. When McGuire released “Eve of Destruction” in 1965, he was warned that while he would probably have a hit record, his song was so pessimistic about the state of the world …
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …” The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees Americans five basic rights — freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, the right to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for the redress of grievances. The clause …
When I was 13, we moved from Ohio to Northern Virginia. My dad had been working for the Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB and was offered a significant promotion and a transfer to the Pentagon. His new job required travel, so three or four times a year he would go on inspection trips amd be …
