POLITICS & THE ECONOMY
FAITH GONE AWRY 
This week’s Torah portion, “Shelach-Lecha” (“Send” or “Send for Yourself”), shares something with Texas Republicans’ 2022 platform. It’s frightening. Numbers 13 tells of twelve Israelite chieftains sent by Moses to scout out Canaan, the land God promised to Israel. On returning, ten “spies” display a grievous lack of faith. They concede that the land “does…
Read MoreBULLSHIT!
I have an awkward relationship with WordPress, which I use to publish my posts. A former American president has an awkward relationship with the truth. My problem is easier to deal with. WordPress analyzes a post’s “readability.” My drafts always receive a frowning icon and a warning: “Needs Improvement.” One exception stands out. “Putin’s Secret…
Read MoreNUMBERS—BIBLICAL AND AMERICAN 
The British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli is cited for mentioning “lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Numbers can confuse us. This is true of Torah and American gun violence. This week, we begin the Book of Numbers. One year after the exodus from Egypt, God commands Moses to conduct a census of Israelite males age 20…
Read MoreGOV. DeSANTIS, BURN MY BOOK! 
When it comes to banned books, I once was ahead of the curve. I fell back. Now, I appeal for a boost from Florida governor Ron DeSantis. In 1969-70, I taught English at a private school in San Antonio. I assigned a high school class Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winner To Kill a Mockingbird. The school…
Read MoreWORDLE AND BETRAYAL 
Wordle, an online word game, offers insight into what drives Congressional leaders like Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy to betray this nation. Wordle players get six tries to guess a five-letter word. Feedback helps. Enter PLACE, and if E comes at the end of the mystery word, the letter shows up on a green tile.…
Read MoreINFORMED YET IGNORANT 
I recently read the novelist Saul Bellow’s nonfiction To Jerusalem and Back (1976). Bellow’s personal take on Jerusalem and Israel half-a-century ago is quite interesting. But what most fascinated me was a comment on another matter. Well before CNN, Fox and other cable news organizations, way before the internet, social media and podcasts, Bellow wrote, “We are informed…
Read MoreWELCOME TO THE GRAY ZONE 
Americans hoping Ukraine can resist Vladimir Putin share a common trait with many of the most memorable characters in the Hebrew Bible. This may discomfort us. Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Miriam, David, Solomon all exhibit real flaws. (David takes Bathsheba to wife after sending her soldier-husband, Uriah the Hittite,…
Read MoreLEGITIMATE POLITICAL DISCOURSE 
Physicists and sci-fi authors often posit alternate universes. Parallel selves or others inhabit space we believe to be ours. Fantasy? Not in America. Last Friday, the Republican National Committee censured Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyoming) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Illinois) for serving on the House select committee investigating January 6. According to the RNC, they “are…
Read MorePUTIN’S SECRET DEMANDS 
Russia justifies massing 100,000 troops on its border with Ukraine in response to NATO encroachment. But Vladimir Putin recently sent Joe Biden his real demands. “Comrade Joe: Do not mind ‘Comrade.’ Takes me back to glorious days of Soviet Union, which all Russia wishes to return. Except way things are now, situation not bad. “Enough…
Read MoreHAM AND LIMA BEANS
In 1967, my Infantry Officer Candidate School company underwent a weeklong field exercise at Fort Stewart, Georgia. We ate C-rations. They taught me a valuable lesson about pragmatism. C-rations, heated over a can of Sterno, offered a variety of main courses. The guys ate their favorites first. Beef stew was pretty much everyone’s preference. Eventually,…
Read MoreWISHES FOR 2022
I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions, and I haven’t. But I do express best wishes to people who impact our lives and can make 2022 a better year for all of us. I hope that San Francisco mayor London Breed comes across an updated copy of Crimestopper’s Textbook from the old comic strip “Dick Tracy” by Chester Gould.…
Read MorePOLITICAL TRIBALISM AND LUST
POLITICAL TRIBALISM AND LUST (545) Andrew Sullivan is a British-American writer and journalist, an openly gay Catholic, and a conservative. His November 14 “60 Minutes” interview presented the levelheaded—and now rare—side of conservatism. Sullivan embraces proven values but welcomes responsible change. “The American Constitution was set up for people who can reason and aren’t afraid…
Read MorePOLITICAL HATRED’S NEW SLOGAN
Many on the far right have adopted a new political theme, “Let’s Go Brandon.” Innocuous? Hardly. While free speech remains a valued American principle, this phrase poses yet another threat to our democracy. On October 2 at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway, driver Brandon Brown won his first Xfinity Series stock car race. NBC Sports’ Kelli Stavast…
Read MoreWRITERS BLOCK—SORT OF
I always take notes on my next novel and short story while working on my current project. But a theme for this week’s post challenged me. Yet stimuli abound. So I’ll share some thoughts. As I write, Democrats have yet to pass the classic infrastructure bill linked to “human infrastructure” legislation to help American workers…
Read MoreWHAT’S IN A NAME?
Baseball’s Cleveland Indians, who go back to 1900, have disappeared. But the team will return next season—under another name. There’s a lesson here. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” says Juliet in Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet.” She references Romeo, a member of her family’s archrival House of Montague yet filled with…
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