Recent Commentaries

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The Deeper Darkness
“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence…” – Martin Luther King, Jr. Growing up in a Los Angeles suburb, I led a life safe from many of the troubles that took place only miles from where I lived. During the summer of ’65, those troubles exploded during a hot August night. Marquette Frye, a black, twenty-one-year old, was pulled over by...
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May 29, 2020
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The Meaning of Memorial Day
Note: I will return Friday. On May 30, 1868 Ohio Senator James A. Garfield gave the first address to a crowd of more than 5,000 at Arlington National Cemetery. The event, known then as Decoration Day, was organized to honor those who died during the Civil War. However, five years before Garfield’s address another political figure stood to deliver a...
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May 25, 2020
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Why I Continue to Write About Trump
He is an angry, arrogant, bigoted, unprincipled narcissist who was elected to the U.S. presidency by the slimmest of margins. He is the most illiterate, contradictory, and inarticulate individual who has ever held the highest office in the land. According to the watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), he has more than 3,000 conflicts of interest....
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May 22, 2020
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The Apostate
“a person who forsakes his religion, cause, party, etc.” — e.g. Neil Cavuto Neil Cavuto is the Fox News anchor/commentator who talks about all things business. However, following President Trump’s press conference on Monday, Cavuto abruptly switched gears to address a continuing controversy in the president’s remarks. “A lot of good things have come out about the Hydroxy, things have...
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May 19, 2020
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All The President’s Lies
Let’s begin with the president’s go-to guy and maestro of misinformation, Sean Hannity. “Wow, huge massive developments in the biggest abuse-of-power, corruption scandal in American history. Dozens of top Obama officials have unmasked, surveilled Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn… all roads lead directly to Barack… we’ll call out the liars.” Well, not all the liars, Sean. What is “Obamagate“? “What is...
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May 18, 2020
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Is This Acceptable to You?
Last Sunday, on the CBS News show 60 Minutes, I was shaken by a report by Scott Pelley in which the Trump administration cut funding to a key scientist researching the cause and cure for the coronavirus. His name is Peter Daszak, and his job involves working with Chinese research officials in Wuhan, China, the area of the first outbreak....
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May 15, 2020
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It Ain’t Over Until…
While Attorney General William Barr announced that the Department of Justice was dismissing the case against President Trump’s former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, one overlooked detail has emerged. According to one federal judge and two former DOJ attorney’s, Barr’s dismissal is only a recommendation to the court. The judge overseeing the case is the official arbiter who makes the...
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May 13, 2020
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In Like Flynn
William Pelham Barr. Remember that name. History certainly will. There are three standards of justice. There’s “white justice,” where white people can benefit in the legal system because they are not part of a minority. Black or minority justice, is exemplified by a recent shooting where Gregory and Travis McMichael — who shot Ahmaud Arbery as he was jogging down...
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May 11, 2020
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A Few Silver Linings
Former computer scientist Jim Mitchell is another local resident who shared his perspective on the virus and living under quarantine conditions. Mitchell started programming for computers in 1962. During his career, he “worked on programming language design and implementation (FORTRAN WATFOR, Mesa, Euclid, C++, Java), interactive programming systems, dynamic interpretation and compilation, document preparation systems, user interface design, distributed transactional...
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May 8, 2020
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It’s Getting Better
Continuing to share local individuals’ experiences with the Covid-19 virus, and the quarantine orders issued by California state governor Gavin Newsom, Maureen (Mo) Masson worked as a private duty nurse in Los Angeles before joining the Air National Guard to help treat burn patients returning from Vietnam. Her last military assignment was in Desert Shield before retiring in 1992 as...
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May 6, 2020