One of the pluses of being old is that I’ve lived much of my life without the internet.  That means I don’t fear having my youthful opinions thrown in my face years later.  For that reason, I pity  J. D. Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate in the 2024 Presidential election. Th

Getting Lost to Find Home, my upcoming memoir, will reveal my childhood relationship with my father was a rocky one.  We didn’t make our separate peace until I’d graduated from college.  Even then, communication wasn’t easy.  He was an Indiana farm boy with an 8th-grade educa

A U. S. voter isn’t surprised that Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, New York Congresswoman woman from New York and a democratic liberal, fails to see eye to eye with Joe Manchin, a conservative democratic Senator from West Virginia.  But a public dustup over age is surprising. Manchin at 7

Recently, a friend sent me a quote ascribed to the American anthropologist, Margaret Mead. It was her answer to a question that asked what constituted the first signs of civilization in a culture.  She said it would be a broken thighbone that had healed properly. In the wild, the dis

She heard the roar of angry voices in the corridor and ran to hide in the bathroom.  “Where is she?  Where is she?’  The masculine voice in the outer room was insistent.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez flattened herself against the wall as the door behind which she was hiding opened

The thief was furious when he found a 4-year-old child strapped into the back seat of the car he’d stolen.  His response was to slam on the brakes and reverse direction.  Finding the mother newly emerged from the grocery store with a gallon of milk, he scolded her for leaving her

I don’t write much poetry because it’s work. Poetry is precise and guided by the principle that “less is more,” even as it attempts to squeeze the meaning of the universe into a ball.  Mathematics, also a language, is similar.  E=MC(2) could be appreciated as a line of poetr

Does our criminal justice system disadvantage the poor and minorities?  Unquestionably, it does and now Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , newly elected to Congress, thinks so, too.  Among the latest in her endless barrage of opinions is one that concerns actress Felicity Huffman.  The lat

Is Medicare for All affordable?  I have no idea. Apparently, neither do Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose argument in favor appears to be based on their misreading of a medical study.  Nonetheless, the goal is important and Obamacare has been a step in the right dir

The media seems to have ignored Judge Clarence Thomas’s comments during a recent libel case before the Supreme Court.  He referred to a 1964 landmark decision in New York Times v. Sullivan,  saying he thought it should be overturned.  That ruling made it difficult for public offi