Category Archives: United States

Erroneous Facts Corrode Trust

Posted on 04/30/2019 by

A simple example often illustrates a greater truth. I waited over a month to receive The Library Book from my local library. I’ve enjoyed author Susan Orlean in The New Yorker, and the buzz swirling about her latest book made … Continue reading →

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A Tale of Two Taxes

Posted on 04/15/2019 by

April 15 is a remarkable day. We the People will file over 140 million tax returns and fork over $1.8 trillion dollars to support our government. Almost all of us complain about paying taxes. Almost all of us disagree with … Continue reading →

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Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Posted on 03/26/2019 by

If you take everything we know about good television and do the exact opposite, the result is Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Low resolution, cheap sets, slow pacing. Same holds for the recent documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, similarly slow moving … Continue reading →

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Behind the Pane of Empty Storefronts

Posted on 03/05/2019 by

Are you a Cambridge resident? Go online and vote for your favorite empty storefront art by March 8, 2019. __________ What do Americans buy with our affluence? Privacy. Single-family houses in gated communities, automobiles for every driver in the family, … Continue reading →

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Oligarchy 101

Posted on 05/15/2018 by

How often do we read an article or website and fly through words without really knowing their meaning? Very often. It’s a lot of work to know the exact definition of every word and assess how accurately it’s used in … Continue reading →

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Entertainment Tonight … and Tomorrow … and the Day After That

Posted on 01/16/2018 by

It’s inauguration anniversary week—one year since Donald Trump took the Oath of Office. Many will pen commentaries on whatever good or ill our President has delivered. I fall square in the camp that believes Donald’s a bully who’s diminished our … Continue reading →

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Winter is Coming

Posted on 12/19/2017 by

  In the Bicentennial year of 1976, my Sociology professor proclaimed, “The United States won’t have a revolution; you can’t have a revolution in a country where 70% of the people are satisfied.” His statistical construct may be correct. What’s … Continue reading →

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Everything Wrong with this Country in Ten Seconds or Less

Posted on 04/03/2017 by

I came upon a most perfect example of civic disintegration today. Perfect not just because it exemplifies the brazen meanness of people with power, but also because the incident is so inconsequential, the only reason it could possibly occur is … Continue reading →

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Make Mass Violence History

Posted on 07/06/2016 by

When I was eight years old, in 1963, I gave my parents an ashtray for their anniversary, a ceramic swirl of dusty coral with gilt trim. They displayed it on the coffee table. Boyhood satisfaction glowed when my mother pulled … Continue reading →

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Audiobook Orgy Part 4: American Theocracy

Posted on 03/26/2015 by

Kevin Phillips has a grand, sweeping thesis: three interrelated factors are bringing America down. First there is oil. The energy that drove the unlimited aspirations of the American Century is showing its limits in the 21st. Second, there is religion. … Continue reading →

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