LET’S face it: The split in politics that strongly divides us is being reflected in government, foreign affairs, legislation, health care, transportation and, yes, education. But what’s with the extreme splitting at the expense of the quality of our lives? I’m going to take a big leap and say it’s not really politics (the “pop” explanation) or COVID (the shot across the bow) as so many claim, but simply lack of an effective future infrastructure from which to develop. This is, in ...

MEANING, “Thank God it’s Friday,” right? Well, it IS Friday, and I for one am plenty thankful for the start of another weekend, BUT, what I meant was “Thank God(dess) it’s functioning,” whether referring to one’s body (and it’s various parts), our home appliances, the internet, our government (though many would question this), the police or the United Nations. With the slow but significant exit of baby-boomers and the rise of Generation Whatever, I’m reminded of WILLIAM MALT...

IT’S not uncommon to think of the USA as a “continental” nation, an integral part of North America or the Americas in general. It’s not so common to think of it as an island, surrounded in its totality by water, isolated by oceans from EurAsia. Personally, I think of the good ol’ democratic USA as an “island in the sun” among nations. Not a classic Greek democracy; instead, more in terms of a “nation of free traders.” It seems to me that one particular element that’s made ...