A Simple Fact
“We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” Justice Louis Brandeis
Weasel Words
Three years ago I posted the following article. A lot has changed in three years. And nothing has changed at all. In fact, it’s easy to claim now that how we use words and how we understand what we hear is more important than ever as communication accelerates at warp speed and the tools of…
Who Does Congress Really Work For?
After the elections in November I’ll back off the politics, but for now I can’t resist. Here’s an article from Politico Magazine back in May. “The 401 (k) industry owns Congress.” It still makes my ears smoke. Read it. You need to know what this very savvy investigative journalist reveals, because it’s right in front…
The Power of Authoritarianism … Two Sides of the Same Coin
Here are two quotations I’ve used before a few years ago. But they are exceptionally important at the moment in our history. Not only in this country, but globally. “. . . in obedience to figures they see as ‘authoritative,’ people will do ‘to others’ what they would otherwise do to nobody.” …
The Responsibilities That Come With Our Knowledge
Detail from The Crucifixion of St. Peter, by Michelangelo, from the cover of Forbidden Knowledge Twenty-eight years ago, in October 1996, I bought a book so full of knowledge and food for thought that since then I have returned to it again and again and keep it on the bookshelf behind me as I sit…
While We’re All Focused on the Middle East
The following snippets are from Back to the Cold War: Russia uses Mexico as a Hub for Spying on the U.S. in today’s NBC News. “Russia has added dozens of personnel to its embassy staff in Mexico City in the past few years, even though Moscow has only limited trade ties with the country.” Russia’s…
How the Authors Guild Is Fighting Censorship in Texas
I’ve been an Authors Guild member for 33 years. The following is a communication from todays Guild mailing. The Authors Guild and a coalition of bookstores, booksellers, authors, and publishers filed a lawsuit on July 25, 2023, challenging Texas House Bill 900, the ironically-titled “Reader Act.” The law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of…
Aspects of Free Speech
Many books have been written — and will continue to be written — about the complexities of free speech. In the US, the issue was never simple, even from the beginning as the nation’s constitution was being written. But as time has passed through decades and centuries, as global cultures have expanded and interacted with…
A Snapshot of American Discontent
Every morning I read five or six newspapers/websites. In papers like The Washington Post and The New York Times I’m curious about the articles that have generated the most comments from the readership. They often provide a snapshot of American discontent. I read the articles, then go to the “comments” section. I preselect the “Reader’s…
The Importance of Critical Thinking
Today we live in what is commonly called the “digital era” or “the information age”. New ideas fly at us unrelentingly and at greater speed than at any other time in human history. Not surprisingly, these new ideas often come to us in ways that tempt us to fire off a quick response, or reaction.…