Recent Commentaries

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More Like Alex
Last August, the world was shocked and outraged at the tragedy that has become Alepo, Syria. However, it was the image of a dust and blood-covered Syrian boy, Omran Daqneesh, that crystallized the true cost of war. Although Omran’s older brother Ali died of his injuries, the rest of his immediate family survived an airstrike that turned their home and...
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November 30, 2016
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#GratiTour
My friend and trainer, Steve Gordon, was all set to have an incredible trip with his two daughters to New York City for a family reunion, but misfortune steered them in another direction. “Hey Jim, change of plans,” he texted. “My cousin lives in Hartford, Connecticut, which was to be the focal point of the entire trip, took a turn...
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November 28, 2016
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Cold Turkey
Jedi Master Dan Piraro offers this little political mockery in his weekly colorful commentaries. With a country politically polarized to the point of protests, how in the heck are these people going to be able to sit down at the Thanksgiving Day table and have a civil conversation with relatives who may be in the opposition camp? In, How to...
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November 23, 2016
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Humanize not Modernize
“Democracy is the only system capable of reflecting the humanist premise of equilibrium or balance. The key to its secret is the involvement of the citizen.”         – John Ralston Saul “A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” – Ronald Reagan “Nuclear weapons have posed an existential threat to humanity for decades. They undermine democracy by putting...
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November 21, 2016
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Is it Time to Eliminate the Electoral College?
No, this is not the Electoral College. (Actually, it’s the Student Center at The New Hampshire Technical Institute where I spent many a happy day partaking of the luncheon cuisine while chatting with students attending the Contemporary Ethical Issues class led by Professor Stephen Ambra.) The Electoral College is a process, not a location, and a frustrating one to easily...
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November 18, 2016
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Inconsistencies and Conflicts
It didn’t take long for President-elect Trump to show us the difference between what he said during his campaign and what he says now. During the campaign, Trump called President Obama “incompetent.” In last week’s Oval Office meeting, Trump now calls Obama, “a very good man.” During the campaign, Trump said that Obama is “very stupid,” and “the founder of...
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November 16, 2016
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2016 Election – Final Thoughts
“Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true.” – old idiom Like more than 60,981,000, I voted for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton not because she would have been the first woman President of the United States, but given two likely choices, she was, far and away, the most qualified grown-up in the room. While many have...
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November 14, 2016
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Observations on an Election
While the results of Tuesday night’s stunning upset – by a man who has never served an elected office – will be analyzed and parsed for months and years to come, here are some observations, both general and ethical. – The vast majority of pollsters and media, armed with the latest technology, did not come close to getting it right....
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November 10, 2016
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What Makes America Great
For the past sixteen months there has been a lot of talk that America has lost its way; that we are weak; that we have somehow, lost our greatness. If that is true, then why do so many want to come to this country, attend schools, build businesses, become citizens, grow and prosper? Nineteenth century French diplomat and historian Alexis...
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November 7, 2016
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Why Trump is Dangerous: The Final Pitch
I have written about Republican Presidential Nominee Donald J. Trump for more than a year now. Why? His disdain for people and institutions is beyond anything ever seen before. As CEO of Conspiracy Central, his statements range from the bizarre, “…what was [Ted Cruz’s father] doing with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before the… shooting?,” to the bizarrer: “The concept of...
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November 4, 2016