Yes, the person we elect as our President every four years is extremely important. Most of us hope against hope that he or she will have certain qualities for the job: competence, honesty, wide knowledge of the significant issues of the day, integrity, good mental and physical health, and others. In the complexity that is […]
Common good
Influential (and Dangerous) Right-wing Organizations: A Focus on the Liberty Justice Center and the Alliance Defending Freedom
As the 2024 election season heats up, Americans who care about preserving our democratic republic should know about some of the organizations that are using their legal prowess to spread dangerous disinformation and influence not only the election but our laws – for years to come. Like Moms for Liberty, which we’ve examined before, the […]
St. Paul on Individualism and Community: Guidance for Americans from I Corinthians 12
Several years ago, we examined the very American characteristic of hyperindividualism. We noted many examples of how extreme forms of a characteristic that generally has positive goals and outcomes often leads in our culture to putting the onus, stressfully, on individuals to improve our lives (in contrast to the fact that citizens of our peer […]
Science Meets Religion: NASA’s Community Anchor Program and a New Orleans Church
The notion that religion and science do not mix is belied in our day by the Informal Education Community Anchor award through NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement. The Anchor designation, located within the NASA’s Teams Engaging Affiliated Museums and Informal Institutions (TEAM II) competitive funding program, was created in 2021 “in recognition that local institutions […]
Kabbalah and the Paranormal: Parallels around Consciousness
The mystical component of Judaism, often referred to as Kabbalah, is relatively little known to modern Westerners. Although developed during the Middle Ages, Kabbalah’s 20th-century practitioners who would have been able to carry on the tradition nearly all perished in the Holocaust (Cooper, 13). It is possible that up to 80 percent of religiously observant […]
America’s Continuing Low Democracy Score and the Urgency to Improve It
Americans should know about the Democracy Index if we do not know about it already. In the latest report published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU), the US is described as a “flawed democracy” – for the fifth straight year, and lower than the 2020 score. The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU) is a […]
Thoughts, Prayers and Activism
More gun violence in the United States of America – truly a public health epidemic. There are outcries from liberals and progressives for action – as there should be. There has also been criticism of the pat – almost routine – offering of “thoughts and prayers” in the wake of tragic, unbelievable mass shootings. What […]
Democratic Senate Candidates to Watch in 2022: The Vital Importance of the Midterms
Our nation remains fractured politically and divided on a wide range of issues. The Big Lie perpetrated by the disgraced, twice-impeached, one-term former President Donald Trump and his cronies – that the 2020 Election was fraudulent and illegitimately deprived Trump of a second term – still persists. Smaller lies that negatively impact Americans – such […]
September 11th, the Paranormal and the Power of Love
As we have recently commemorated the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, we have been reminded once again of the horror of that day, the lives tragically lost, and the aftermath of the attacks – psychologically, socially, politically, legally and with regard to health concerns of those who worked for months and […]
What’s New at the Department of Transportation?
Since Pete Buttigieg was confirmed as Secretary of Transportation and started his new job in early February, he has hit the ground running in promoting the Biden-Harris Administration’s agenda, not only in transportation but in combatting the coronavirus pandemic and racism, creating jobs, and mitigating climate change. While the Department of Transportation is not often […]