Recent Commentaries

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Better Angels
This will be my last commentary until September, but before I go, some final thoughts. While Congress and the country seem to be both divided and divisive, there is much that we should reflect on during this long, hot summer. The chaos and slaughter in the Middle East has come about due to a lack of freedom and basic human...
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July 30, 2012
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Is it Ethical to Eat Meat?
This story has been sitting on my desk since early May, and I confess that while it may not be the most vital ethical issue of the day, it’s an interesting one. I have several vegan friends who have made pretty persuasive arguments against meat. “To encourage omnivores to do some of the same hard thinking that vegetarians and vegans...
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July 27, 2012
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Shocking Truth!
After having spoken with newly installed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, radical Islamists have announced, in the Egyptian magazine Rose el-Youssef, that the government will soon begin the process of demolishing the Great Pyramids. “The magazine quoted a prominent Bahraini sheik, Abdellatif al-Mahmoud,” The New York Times writes, “as demanding in a Twitter posting on June 24 that Mr. Morsi ‘accomplish what...
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July 25, 2012
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Now Aurora
In 1999 it was Columbine; Fort Hood, 2009. The 2011 shootings in Tucson claimed six lives and U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords almost became the seventh victim of that massacre. Now, Aurora. It’s impossible to make sense of the senseless. In his 2009 book, How to Practice – The Way to a Meaningful Life, His Holiness writes, “If your life is easy...
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July 23, 2012
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A Few Basic Realizations
In 1995, while doing research on the creation of The Lone Ranger, I spent four days with Fran Striker, Jr., the son of the creator. Fran shared many stories about his dad, most if not all, reflecting his loyalty to friends, his compassion toward others and his integrity as a human being. Striker, Jr’s own writings are reflective of his dad’s deeply...
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July 20, 2012
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Good for the Soul?
You can say good-bye to another time-worn expression. Apparently, dead men DO tell tales. And in the case of Val Patterson confession is good for his soul. Before dying of throat cancer last week, the 59-year-old Patterson left behind his own obituary in which he gives clarification (and perhaps seeks a little redemption) for a few sins from his past. “I have confessions and...
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July 18, 2012
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Now We Know
While former Penn State assistant football Coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted last month of sexual assault against 10 young boys over approximately ten years, we have now learned that Penn State’s President Graham Spanier, Vice-President Gary Schultz, Athletic Director Tim Curley and Head Coach Joe Paterno all knew of Sandusky’s behavior and did nothing to stop it. In a scathing,...
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July 16, 2012
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Journalistic Integrity
According to a recent Gallup poll (July 10) “Confidence in newspapers is now half of what it was at its peak of 51% in 1979.” However, I recently came across an example where a reporter remained committed to doing the right thing in spite of professional and social pressures. With people closing in on the identity of Deep Throat – the mystery...
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July 13, 2012
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What a Payne!
Martha Payne is amazing! On her first day in school, the Scottish nine-year-old pictured and posted a review of her school lunch online. Below a photo of a small pizza, cupcake, some sweet corn and a single, reconstituted potato croquette, Payne wrote, “I’m a growing kid and I need to concentrate all afternoon and I can’t do it on 1...
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July 11, 2012
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Mr. Roberts
Political pundits and experts love to predict. In the case of conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, it would seem all the experts had a better chance of going to their local carnival, dropping a nickel in Mr. Predicto, and reading the response on air from that little pop-out card. When it came down to a final decision on President...
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July 9, 2012