Having lived through the Asian flu epidemic in the late 1950s, I’m pretty sure the coronavirus will eventually wend its way out of our system. For one thing, science knows a good deal more about how to mount a viral defense than in those earlier days. A vaccine may arrive sooner rat

Rudyard Kipling’s poem IF  is a tribute to Leander Starr Jameson, a Victorian war hero who led the failed Jameson Raid against the Transvaal Republic.  I know this history because in the 1960s I taught at Jameson High School in Zimbabwe. The school was named in the man’s honor

Here’s another patriarchal hangover that is affecting the 2020 election. According to several studies, likeability is optional to voters if the candidate is male, but is a requirement for a female. Also true is that people view forceful women as lecturing but give a thumbs up to a m

  Indigenous tribes in the Brazilian Amazon are locked in a battle with the government to preserve their lands and way of life. So far, they have shunned all offers of money.  The rest of human civilization could learn from their values. After all, where do you buy drinking wate

I read an article recently about torture during the George W. Bush administration. Apparently, waterboarding was so brutal the contract interrogator sought to stop the procedure.  Each time he made his plea, the CIA refused and threatened to bring in someone tougher. Eventually, the

The latest round of scandals involving the President and the Attorney General is another body blow to our democracy. True, we’ve seen cozy relationships between a President and the Department of Justice before: John Kennedy appointed his brother, Robert Kennedy as U. S. Attorney Gen

Here’s what I’d like to know: after the impeachment trial, why did Donald Trump’s favorability numbers rise in opinion polls? The uptick occurred not only among Republicans but also among independent voters. I find that last bit of information, worrying, and I’m not alone.  O

I’m beginning to wonder how far I can roll my eyes to the back of my head before they fall out. After watching the ABC Democratic Presidential debate I begin to despair.  As a whole, I thought it was the best of the series and that the exchange between the candidates shed more ligh

While Donald Trump’s acquittal at the end of his impeachment trial was predictable and despite the President’s reputation for reprisals, the country witnessed the courage of several patriots who spoke truth to power. We know them now as their names have been written into the annal

Like many girls raised Catholic, I flirted with the idea of becoming a nun.  The notion of service to others appealed to me and, frankly, it still does.  Happily, I found my calling as a teacher. I know that moment of joy in The Miracle Worker when Annie Sullivan stood at the water