A friend of mine recently lost his father to COVID-19. When his wife lamented people not taking COVID-19 seriously, another friend, who does not take COVID-19 seriously, replied, “There are more than 600,000 deaths from the flu each year, but the news doesn’t tell you to be afraid of the flu.” This interaction was via social media. How are we to interpret this interaction? What is the responder trying to communicate? What reply, if any,... Full Post
There has been a majority of Supreme Court Justices nominated by Republicans presidents who ran on a Pro-Life platform since 1991, when George H. W. Bush’s second nomination, Clarence Thomas, was confirmed and became the fifth such appointment, i.e., the fifth appointment by Reagan and Bush. At that point, fully eight of the nine Supreme Court Justices were appointed by Republican presidents, although three were appointed by Republican presidents prior to the Republican party adding... Full Post
We’ve been fighting systemic racism for decades and while on the one hand much has improved since the mid-20th century, it also feels like not much has changed since Michael Brown was murdered in Ferguson six years ago. Social media posts and protests are good, but what can we do to sustain our current volition into systemic change? Here are some resources I have found useful when trying to answer that question. Black Live Matter... Full Post
I started writing this a few days ago, but now that Joe Biden said his “single greatest concern” is that the current President will try to steal the election, it’s a bit less prescient. In previous weeks, the current President has repeatedly called into question the validity of mail-in voting, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Many have tied this allegation to the efforts by the Republican party to suppress voting over the last 15-20... Full Post
Today, the Washington Post posted a detailed timeline of the most remarkable abuse of power by a President of the United States I have witnessed in my lifetime: The crackdown before Trump’s photo op. In short, after declaring himself “the law and order President” (that ended well for Richard Nixon, right?), the head of the executive branch used police, the military, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and park rangers (park rangers!) to violently displace largely... Full Post