Watching the presidential debates is a bit like experiencing shock and awe. Despite fact checkers, Trump persists in his claim that  Hillary Clinton was the first to  cast doubts on Barrack Obama’s citizenship.  But why blame Trump for the lunacy in the world?  He didn’t inven

After World War II, Winston Churchill expressed hope for a united Europe, where movement between borders would be free and where any European in any corner of that society  could say, “Here I feel at home.” (“The War for Europe,” by Henry Porter, Vanity Fair, February 2016, p

Unlike Al Qaeda which took pains to avoid the World Wide Web and the digital age, fearing their movements could be tracked, Isis has embraced technology, employing it to inflate the organization’s profile and using it as a recruiting tool.  According to writer Jared Cohen, the orga

I came across statistics published in the July/August 2015 edition of Mother Jones that left me wanting to laugh and cry simultaneously. Certainly, I was reminded of the British comedy, The Mouse That Roared, starring Peter Sellers. Sellers played thae prime minister of the duchy of G

“Next to oil, looting is the best-paying sector for Isis…” admits Michael Danti of the U. S. State Department Syrian Heritage initiative.  (“Syria’s Monuments Men” by Bryan Schatz, Mother Jones, May/June 2015, pg. 12.)   What the terrorists don’t destroy, they allow l

I admit I have little knowledge about Muslims or their faith. At best, I brushed shoulders with a few while traveling in East Africa.  My most memorable encounter was with my safari guide in Uganda.  During one of our many chats, he mentioned a custom in his country that obliged a w