A stop sign for bad guys

When I was six, I had what I thought was a very smart idea: a stop sign just for bad buys. That way everyone who was not a bad guy could ignore it, but while the bad guys are stopped it would be easier for the police to catch them. My excuse for that idea [...]

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Free Thinkers Not So Welcome

Every so often, something reminds you that good fortune has brought you in touch with a remarkable family. Friendship seems to work that way: it brings families as well as individuals together. When my mother came to the United States from the Netherlands after World War II, she lived in Minneapolis to see if my [...]

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The View from Abroad

It Should be Easy to Balance the Federal Budget In spite of the recommendations for tackling the federal budget deficit and national debt of Obama’s Debt Commission, which included a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts, a new poll released by  Rasmussen Reports finds that 51 percent of likely voters polled believe it is [...]

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The View from Abroad

Your Vote Didn’t Count last Tuesday Did you really think it was worth your time to vote last Tuesday?  Oh, Republican partisans will of course say an unequivocal “yes” as their party “shellacked” the Democrats and in the process picked up several Senate seats, governors’ mansions, and control of the House of Representatives.  But in [...]

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The View from Abroad

As Usual, Campaign Full of Hype, but Short on Details Given all the hype about this year’s midterm elections, you’d think that the results are actually going to make a difference in the lives of Americans.  Oh, we’ve all heard the hyperbole.  Both sides are talking about how this is an election for “the soul [...]

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