America at 242: A Nation of Self-Imposed Segregation

The editorial cartoon by artist Gary Varvel features what appears to be a bi-racial couple at the maître d’ podium at an upscale restaurant. The caption, quoting the pompous looking greeter, has stuck in my mind ever since I saw the cartoon in my local newspaper. “Dinner for two…Liberal or Conservative Section?” Yes. This is…

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Let’s Drain the Congressional Money Spending Swamp

Whether you believe the involvement of the federal government in our every day lives is a good thing or a bad thing I’m betting we can all agree on one thing. Lawmakers in Washington continue to misspend our money, big time. There ought to be a law but there isn’t. Pork Barrell politics is still…

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Taking Care of Kids Who Witness Death

Normally, small research studies don’t interest me much since they usually don’t include a large cross-section of participants. I mean, how can you reach a generalized conclusion if you have only questioned or studied 20 or 30 people, right? But a newly reported effort from the Boston Reentry Study group caught my attention. During a…

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A Citizen’s Letter to Robert Mueller

Dear Mr. Robert Mueller: I am neither a democrat or a republican. I am writing as a concerned American to beg you to reveal whether there is any end in sight for your Russia-Trump collusion investigation. We all want to know the truth behind whether President Trump or any of his associates colluded with the…

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Reducing Racial Profiling Depends on All of Us

The post 911 mantra, “If you see something – say something” appears to have taken an ugly turn these days. It used to relate to concerns about terrorism. If you saw an abandoned backpack or van or if you discovered evidence one could construe as bomb related the instruction was to immediately call police to…

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Time to Bring Back the Asylums

What does the word asylum conjure up in your mind? An overpopulated mental ward with screaming patients frothing at the mouth? A snake pit, as depicted in the 1948 movie of the same name in which actress Olivia de Havilland, battles schizophrenia, shock treatments and a sadistic nurse? The word asylum simply means, “An institution…

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Confronting Tough Questions Following the #MeToo Movement

Bill Cosby is a convicted felon. A jury has declared him guilty of three counts of indecent sexual assault. If you’d told me a few years ago that I would one day be writing lines like that about the actor called “America’s Favorite Dad” I would have thought you were nuts. But there it is.…

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Child Sex Abuse: Men Break Their Silence

Each of the men on the dais was successful in his field. There was a Broadway actor from the hit musical “Hamilton,” a popular TV personality and a District Attorney. All came to talk about being sexually abused as a child and how it had impacted their life. Each story was unforgettable because males often…

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Sometimes First Responders Need Help After Helping You

Could everyone reading this just pause for a bit and really think about our fellow citizens who, literally, put their lives on the line for us every day? I’m talking about police officers and firefighters who face deadly dangers and serious stressors on a regular basis. Gruesome car accidents, raging fires with trapped victims screaming…

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Fighting Sex Trafficking One Internet Site at a Time  

Dateline Washington: “The Justice Department announces the seizure of Backpage.com, the Internet’s leading forum for prostitution ads, including ads depicting the prostitution of children.” All I can say is, it is about time. Since 2010, state and federal politicians and law enforcement have known about Backpage.com’s classified section which offered a seemingly

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