“I remember my uncle Harold told my aunt about this affair he had. It was a sort of mildly upsetting event in my family… The affair was over something like eight years. So I remember asking him, ‘Why did you tell her? You got away with it.’ And I’ll never forget what he said. It was the getting away with...

Starring Clarence Thomas as the Supreme Court’s oldest serving justice, and . . . Harlan Crow as the Republican Megadonor. The latest saga in Justice Thomas’s lifestyle has just been reported by ProPublica, a non-profit group of investigative journalists. To recap: “The Virginia ‘Ginni’ Thomas Caper.” Despite a complete lack of evidence, Mrs. Thomas held the opinion that the 2020...

Is cobalt a savior for a greener planet? Possibly, but at great cost. The ferromagnetic metal—one of the most abundant of all metals found in the earth’s crust—is the essential element in all lithium-ion batteries used in cell phones, laptops, electric cars, and other products that depend on more efficient batteries. However, it is only economically feasible to mine in...

Let’s cut to the chase: Americans expect a higher standard from the US Supreme Court than the other two branches of government . . .  much higher and we’re not getting it. Let’s start with Justice Alito. “A former leader of the anti-abortion movement wrote to the chief justice to report an alleged earlier breach, of a 2014 contraception decision,...

Since this is a two-parter, I’m going to start with a little background. The Supreme Court is expected to have a higher standard than the other two branches of government. We rely on the accumulated legal wisdom of 9 justices—not their political persuasions—to make decisions that affect the entire country. Great idea, yes? Of course. But since all men are...

The Supreme Court has dealt with serious issues this past session: Immigration; Climate Change (the court rolled back the EPA’s ability to reduce the country’s carbon footprint; big mistake); in a rarely seen Second Amendment ruling, the court has allowed law-abiding citizens to carry handguns outside the home for self-protection, (Bigger mistake); overturning Roe v. Wade (HUGE MISTAKE). Then there’s...

My wife is the president of a local non-profit organization. As such I attend many of the functions she takes part in. Frequently, I am privy to conversations by board members and others regarding a variety of matters, and sometimes I give my wife unsolicited advice. Several years ago, a potential donor was being courted by the organization. However, this...

“The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries. — Rene Descartes, 16th century French Mathematician While I talked about this earlier this month, we need reminders . . . a lot of reminders. Last week was Banned Books Week. It’s hard to imagine an America—a country that places free speech at...

Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania, The New York Times reported, told supporters at a recent rally. “My campaign has no place for hate, bigotry and intolerance. . . .” “Intolerance towards men is always reprehensible. But often times intolerance is provoked by injudicious and erroneous policies.” While the first statement was made by Mastriano, the second...

The lead story in Sunday’s New York Times sums up how far Donald Trump has usurped many Republican state legislatures, political leadership in Congress and how far the Republican party has fallen off the radar of credibility and responsibility to the country. “At least 357 sitting Republican legislators in closely contested battleground states have used the power of their office...