POLITICS & THE ECONOMY
THE PIRATE KING
What do Robert Louis Stevenson, Milton Caniff, John Derek, Johnny Depp and Donald Trump have in common? You’re stumped? No prob. Here’s the skinny: Stevenson (1850–94) wrote “Treasure Island,” published in book form in 1883.The novel gave us one of fiction’s most unforgettable characters, the pirate Long John Silver. Milton Caniff (1907-88) was a cartoonist responsible for…
Read MoreTHE STILL, SMALL VOICE
This past Fourth in Washington, wishing America “Happy birthday” was a sad affair. Love and respect for the nation and our Declaration of Independence are always called for. But the celebration was manhandled with overkill. The traditional fireworks staged in the nation’s capital fizzled in a misguided effort to make the Guinness Book of World Records with…
Read MoreAMERICA AT 250
Two hundred and fifty years post-Declaration of Independence, is America’s glass half-full or half-empty? I’m no Pollyanna. I junked my rose-colored glasses and other items from the ’60s a long time ago. But last week, in “Flying With Resilience,” I wrote that air travel these days demands resilience—the ability to roll with the punches when…
Read MoreCAN’T ANYBODY HERE PLAY THIS GAME?
The 1962 New York Mets, 2026 San Francisco Giants and current White House administration share a lot in common. Incompetence. On May 28, 1957, the National League gave permission to the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants to leave Gotham for Los Angeles and San Francisco. I was a Yankees fan but felt the loss.…
Read MoreSCANNING THIS WEEK’S POLITICAL HORSESHOE
A political theory holds that the extreme left and extreme right draw close at the opposite ends of a horseshoe-style curve. Differing views between traditional left and right leave a wide, but respectful, ideological gap in the middle of that curve. The extremes narrow the gap because they share similar views about exercising power and…
Read MoreARTEMIS II AND IRAN
A cartoon in last Friday’s San Francisco Chronicle says much about the war on Iran. Wiley Miller’s “Non Sequitur” appeared two days after Artemis II lifted off to circle the moon. Two astronauts ride in a moon buggy. One holds a rifle. A gun rack holds three more. The dialog balloon: “Let’s call it quits,…
Read MoreBASEBALL, PASSOVER, AND IRAN
Baseball, Passover and the war with Iran have a connection. The national pastime represents an ordered world. Games end in a recognized win or loss. The standings clearly position each team. Simple. Passover: not so simple. God freed the Israelites from Egypt. But the waters—during and after Pharaoh drowned in the Sea of Reeds—muddied quickly.…
Read MoreHUGE-BOAR AND THE NARROWS—A FABLE
Once upon a time, HUGE-BOAR, the brawniest beast in the forest, called out a very aggressive, if less powerful, rival. “Idiot-Ram is a danger to the whole forest!!!” Without telling anyone, HUGE-BOAR—known for his huge hump, the hugest—crossed the forest. With a deer friend, Big Buck, he attacked I-Ram’s territory. HUGE-BOAR deployed his enormous tusks…
Read MoreEXODUS ON WHITE HOUSE CORRUPTION
The book of Exodus says something important about corruption contaminating the Oval Office. Americans should pay heed. Exodus’ final portion, Pekudei, presents an example of power modified by integrity. The Israelites had brought precious gifts for the Tabernacle and the priests’ vestments. Pekudei begins, “These are the records of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Pact, that were drawn up…
Read MoreBOOTS ON THE GROUND IN AMERICA?
I started this post about the Iran war on Wednesday. Yesterday, a comment by Donald Trump confirmed my worst fears about imperiled American democracy. As to the war, I’m not disturbed by the deaths of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and other top officials. They can rot in Hell. Since 1979, the Iranian theocracy has…
Read MoreSTATE OF DISUNION
Last Tuesday night, Donald Trump gave the first part of the State of the Union address. Here’s the rest he decided—with anguish—not to share. “My SUBJECTS: ‘My Fellow Americans,’ that’s Bullshit! The only people on my level are guys with three COMMAS in their asset totals. Also Numbers. Numbers add up to DOLLAR$$$. You break…
Read MoreTHE CRUELEST MONTH
“April is the cruelest month,” T.S. Elliot wrote in his 1922 poem, “The Waste Land.” I disagree. Those words begin Part I, “The Burial of the Dead” and present a world filled with post-Great War despair. I find more gloom in my own choice of cruelest month. March? They say it comes in like a…
Read MoreABUSING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
A 15-foot, gold-plated statue of Donald Trump—a $300,000 “grift” from cryptocurrency investors—challenges the Christian champion’s supposed respect for the Ten Commandments. Tuesday’s New York Times reported: “Don Colossus” awaits installation on Donald Trump’s golf complex in Doral, Florida. “Pastor Mark Burns, one of the organizers of the effort and a friend of Mr. Trump’s, told his…
Read MoreTHE MIDDLE-FINGER TEST
At lunch, a man hassles you. Your friend starts videoing. The man curses and raises his middle-finger. Your friend shows the video to the restaurant manager. “I held up all five fingers,” the hassler insists. What does the manager believe? Images can be—and frequently are—manipulated through AI and various programs. But the restaurant video was…
Read MoreBARWD OF PEECE
Only creative spelling can express two disastrous horrors foisted on the United States by its would-be emperor. Donald Trump is bored with peace. He threatened force and tariffs to seize Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. Why? Trump texted Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Store: “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace…
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