I try not to write much about politics here because it is so pervasive everywhere else these days. But as a writer who works seven days a week in my own library, it doesn’t sit well with my conscience to remain silent in these current shocking days of global turmoil created by a U.S. President…
As President Trump seeks to purge the U.S. of “wokeness”, his administration has flagged hundreds of words that government documents and website are to limit or avoid, according to a compilation of government documents by the New York Times. This purging is already apparent on hundreds of federal government website. Read this article: These Words…
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they…
“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
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…
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…
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.” …
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…
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…
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…