I’ve watched President Obama through the campaign and during his first nine months in office. I’ve read and watched the mostly adoring press coverage. I’ve also read and heard the alarmist conservative plaints to the effect that Obama is a not-so-secret socialist/communist/Muslim whose main goal is to destroy America as it is, or once was. […]

I’m sitting in the Munich, Germany airport writing this, en route from the U.S. to Serbia. This trip, like every trip to one degree or another, leaves me with less than a positive attitude toward airlines. On the long, boring flight from Washington Dulles to Munich, I found myself reflecting on the differences between air […]

I started my morning like every other one. I rolled out of bed at just past 7 a.m. and went straight to my laptop and read The New York Times. As I scrolled through stories about health-care reform and an update about the murder of a Yale graduate student, I couldn’t stop thinking about running […]

“One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic.” – Joseph Stalin Statistics about non-economic matters can be manipulated as well. One of the most disturbing regards war casualties from Iraq. The government has a great incentive to downplay the number of Americans who have died in Iraq as to make the cost […]

When I heard the report that President Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize, my reaction was two questions: “Huh?” and “What for?” I suspect that many millions of other people had the same reaction. Absurd awards of the political Nobels (Peace and Literature) never really surprise me, but this one is over-the-top. The President […]

Seems there’s a lot of opposition among Democrats in Congress over the idea of posting bills online for 72 hours before they’re voted on. Obviously with an eye on health care reform legislation, almost all Republicans and some Democrats are for it, while the congressional leadership is against it. There’s a move afoot to institute […]

A mascot is a source of pride for a school. A unifying symbol that everyone can get behind. So, it is little wonder why  I was left uninspired when I discovered what my school (Irvine Valley College) calls ourselves. The Lasers. I have yet to see a quirky cartoon or funny mascot for such a […]

When President Obama was in Copenhagen, unwisely risking the prestige of the presidency on Chicago’s Olympics bid, he managed a hasty 25-minute meeting with General Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan.  McChrystal was in London at the time, unwisely speaking about U.S. strategy to the Institute for Strategic Studies. The purpose of the meeting […]

I loathe the first minute of meeting with friends. I am not a hermit who is fond of his small room, its blinds shut and door locked. And I don’t hate the idea of people, either. My fear presents itself when I encounter those I know well, especially the opposite sex. I recently went to […]

The parasites in question are trial lawyers, particularly those who specialize in medical malpractice lawsuits. These unsavory ambulance chasers, like personal injury lawyers in general, aggressively pursue potentially lucrative cases through in-your-face TV ads and tasteless roadside billboards. Some even lurk in hospital corridors, shoving business cards into the hands of potential clients and their […]