Recent Commentaries

Featured image for “A Bracelet, a War and Memories”
A Bracelet, a War and Memories
Maj. John Baldwin (Ret.) is a good friend, former vascular surgeon who served in Vietnam and frequent reader of this site. He submitted the following story to me about former classmate and Vietnam POW Maj. Glenn Wilson. It begins with finding a bracelet. When the Gator Harbor dredge operators pumping out Stevenson Creek near Tampa, Florida back in the spring...
Read More
May 30, 2016
Featured image for “They’re in!”
They’re in!
Last February, I wrote how Elaine Harmon, a member of the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASP), was refused burial at Arlington National Cemetery. While not technically considered part of the military, nevertheless Harmon and her colleagues provided a vital service during World War II. Thirty-eight WASPs died in service to their country. Harmon’s granddaughter, Tiffany Miller who, along with...
Read More
May 27, 2016
Featured image for “The Power of Persistence”
The Power of Persistence
From time to time, people contact me for a variety of reasons. Some tell me stories. Some ask for help. Some even send books. After reading my commentary, The Wrath of Kant, former high school English teacher and author Bill Kraft offered to send me a book. Kraft, a Star Trek enthusiast, set about to accomplish, what most people might...
Read More
May 25, 2016
Featured image for “The Ethical Take: ‘From Here to Absurdity’ Edition”
The Ethical Take: ‘From Here to Absurdity’ Edition
This month’s ethical snapshot goes from the absurd to the absurder and some good news . Who are the Never Trumps? – Contrary to Trump’s zealous base, there are a group of conservative donors who are unwilling to contribute to Trump’s campaign need of $1 billion. According to The New York Times (May 21), “50 of the Republican Party’s largest...
Read More
May 23, 2016
Featured image for “Take Three Gifts”
Take Three Gifts
When I learned that President Obama had decided to visit Hiroshima while in Japan for the Group-7 meeting next week, the first person I contacted was David Krieger. As founder and president of The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Krieger has worked tirelessly for the abolition of all nuclear weapons. (And I thought ethics was a tough sell!) Obama’s visit gives...
Read More
May 20, 2016
Featured image for “What is Religious Freedom?”
What is Religious Freedom?
In another move that can only be described by many as bizarre, North Carolina’s governor decided to sue the federal government over a recent state law limiting bathroom access for transgender people. North Carolina Republican Governor Pat McCrory stated that he would sue the Department of Justice in response to a letter he received from Attorney General Loretta Lynch that...
Read More
May 18, 2016
Featured image for “Eat It!”
Eat It!
October 2, 2015: a date… which will live… in infamy; at least for one journalist. That look of utter defeat on Washington Post Columnist Dana Milbank’s face comes as a consequence of a promise he made last year. “I’m so certain Trump won’t win the nomination,” Milbank wrote, “that I’ll eat my words if he does. Literally: The day Trump...
Read More
May 16, 2016
Featured image for “He’s Going!”
He’s Going!
In April, I wrote a commentary encouraging President Obama to visit Hiroshima. As reported in The New York Times three days ago (May 10), “President Obama will become the first sitting American president to visit Hiroshima, Japan…” since the United States dropped an atomic bomb, ending World War II. In a blog post, White House Deputy National Security Advisor for...
Read More
May 13, 2016
Featured image for “Showdown at the D.C. Corral”
Showdown at the D.C. Corral
Tomorrow is “T-Day”; the date presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump sits down with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to “hash out” some accommodation on policy and personality issues as Trump moves forward with his campaign. Last Sunday, Ryan was brutally honest in an interview when CNN host Jake Tapper asked if he would be willing to support...
Read More
May 11, 2016
Featured image for “But How Many Others?”
But How Many Others?
Good news about Dennis Haines… finally! Last week, I wrote about Vietnam Vet. Dennis Haines’s difficulty in getting a medication approved by the V.A. for treatment for Hepatitis C – an infectious disease that he contracted after he had unintentionally received tainted blood while being treated by the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh. One week ago, I had contacted...
Read More
May 9, 2016