As I trawl the internet in search of information for this blog, I recently came across Thomas Friedman’s question in his New York Times column. (11-10-21). If people won’t wear masks during a pandemic, how will they endure the discomforts attendant with fighting climate c

Lately, I’ve wondered if the human brain is capable of living up to its democratic ideals. What raised this question was an article I’d read about bone development in a child’s hand.  At the age of three, a youngster is unable to hold a pen because he or she lacks sufficient bo

A man in his 50s admitted on Facebook he was depressed about the changes he saw barreling down on society like a runaway train. He doubted the alterations were for the better.  As he is a liberal thinker, I supposed he was suffering from Trump fatigue and wondering, as I do, when our

It’s uncivil of me, I suppose, to pick another quarrel with Amazon. After all, for the past week, the company has been running ads for my book, Heart Land, without a request or payment from me. In fact, that they’re running the ad in tandem The Ninth Hour is flattering.  Of cours

Monika Bauerlein, CEO of Mother Jones, thinks President Donald Trump’s apparent madness has method in it.  (Why Does the Press Keep Helping Trump?” by Monika Bauerlein, Mother Jones, Jan/Feb 2018 pg. 5.)  She accuses him of spinning the truth each day, not to influence, but to c

The other day I found my quilter friend at the retirement center working on a machine, stitching leafy patterns over her latest creation. Fascinated, I stood breathing over her should until she stopped to ask if I wanted to learn the process.  “Yes, please,” I blurted out before

Recently I came across a reference to a literary classic of which I was totally ignorant. I’m sure there are many great works lost to historical memory, but out of curiosity, I looked this one up.  The work is Orlando Furioso written in 1516 by Ariosto, the man who coined the term

Almost everyone knows Hamlet’s soliloquy on death, “To Be or Not to Be,” with its sinister doubts about the hereafter. But, if research is to be believed, those who have encountered the Grim Reaper and survived seem to benefit from the experience. I can testify to this fact. Yea