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  • “Things are in the saddle and ride mankind.” Emerson This October 16th through the 28th marks the 63rd anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. For thirteen days, the world stood on the brink of nuclear war. On the sixth day of the nuclear standoff, a chilling book titled Fail Safe was published. The authors were

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  • The other evening, my wife arrived home with bags of groceries from the market that we will donate to a food bank for distribution. An act of kindness. A moral imperative. More importantly, an expression of love and faith. And for my wife and I, it is also an act of remembrance of both those

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  • Those who know me are aware that I firmly believe in the separation of Church and State. Christian nationalists irritate me with their bending and misinterpretation of the Gospels. They misconstrue the Constitution and misconceive their liberties to fit their understanding of what it means to be an American. Those of us living in the

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  • We have been hearing whispers coming from the White House about invoking the Insurrection Act over the past eight months. Regretfully, the whispers have grown louder. Joseph Nunn of the Brennan Center for Justice has written an informative article explaining the Insurrection Act that I hope you will read. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/insurrection-act-explained I have written about dissent

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  • Early one morning, I took a virtual stroll (more accurately, scroll) through the village of Richburg, New York. An article in The Wellsville Sun about a house on the market precipitated my walk. I decided to stop by the cemetery to pay my respects to family buried there. A virtual stroll. While clicking the arrows,

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  • Senators, Congressional representatives, and governors are known to stare in a mirror. “Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who’s the most qualified of all?”  in the hope of finding a president looking back at them. They are an ambitious lot. A few receive a wink and a nod, “You are, my fairest,” from the reflected image.

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  • The other morning, I found a note in my mailbox from a dear friend. The subject raised for discussion pertained to confession and absolution. This is a timely message as we are in the period of the High Holy Days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. These are ten days of reflection, atonement, and absolution.

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  • Words are often used with little thought to their meaning. Finding the right word to describe someone or something requires observation and thought. The context of what we are witnessing and how we intend to convey the observation, and to whom, requires consideration. Finding the right word is comparable to attaching weights to a fishing

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  • On Sunday, following dinner, I settled in the living room. My wife and I were undecided whether to watch a film or a television show. We recently became hooked on a French detective program, “Le détective de la montagne” (The Mountain Detective). The Mountain Detective is a series about Alex Hugo, a policeman who leaves

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  • This past Friday morning, Verdict: Legal Analysis and Commentary From Justia arrived in my mailbox. I subscribe to it for insights into the workings of the judiciary. The article I delved into was by Marci A. Hamilton titled “Déjà, the Supreme Court’s Cabal, and the Trump Administration’s Secret Maneuvers.” She is currently a Professor of

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