politics

  • Mixing Apples and oranges (or pomegranates). Readers may think I have been doing just that in these reflections on Advent and Chanukkah. Jews and Christians have distinct faiths and teachings. I firmly believe in ecumenical dialogue. Dialogue, to reach an understanding, not a theological compromise of beliefs. As Trevor Harford, a Christian Bible and Rabbinic

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  • The Military News this morning contained an article titled “Military Veterans Call Out Trump, Hegseth and Pentagon in New Video.” Rather than post the entire article written by Nick Mordowanec, I am providing a link to their short video. This issue was a matter of personal concern prior to the Trumpian attack on Mark Kelly

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  • By Carl A. Ten Hoopen Things happened quickly and quietly. Unexpectedly? The answer to that question depends on who you ask. Only their closest friends caught the star quarterback’s drifting attention. His head-cheerleader girlfriend seemed to be flirting with somebody else. Friends noticed a change in her tone of voice when she spoke about him.

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  • “’Some damned foolish thing in the Balkans,” Bismarck predicted would ignite the next war. The assassination of the Austrian heir apparent, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, by Serbian nationalists on June 28, 1914, satisfied his condition.’” So wrote Barbara W. Tuchman in her book The Guns of August. On 28 July, one month later, Austria-Hungry declared war

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  • On Tuesday, 30 September, the U.S. senior military leadership gathered at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, to hear Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump deliver remarks. The meeting struck both civilian and military personnel as rather odd. What was the assembly about exactly? Larry Wilkerson, a retired colonel and former chief of

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  • This week began on Monday with the release of Israeli hostages. Joy marred by loss, sorrow, the memories of those who were killed on 7 October, the Israeli soldiers wounded and killed in Gaza, the hostages returned earlier, and those hostages whose remains have yet to be returned for proper burial. A time of joy

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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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  • 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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  • 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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  • 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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