“To be courageous… requires no exceptional qualifications, no magic formula… whatever arena of life one may meet the challenge of courage, whatever may be the sacrifices he faces, if he follows his conscience – the loss of his friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow men – each man must decide for himself the course he...

Colman McCarthy is always a supportive friend but he’s much more. The former Washington Post columnist retired to start The Center for Teaching Peace, a radical little group that has the audacity to believe that “unless we teach our children peace, someone else will teach them violence.” Among his advisory board: former Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Hatfield, Arun Gandhi...

(With apologies to Booth Tarkington) The ‘magnificence’ of the Trumps began with Frederick Christ ‘Fred’ Trump, who acquired his wealth by building and selling housing to soldiers who returned from World War II and their families. Their gilded splendor lasted throughout all the years that son Donald took over his father’s company, later renamed The Trump Organization. The younger Trump...

As the partial shutdown of the federal government grinds on, we have learned that employees who have been furloughed will eventually be paid. That’s little consolation to those who literally live paycheck to paycheck with housing and other costs. “The shutdown is affecting parts of nine cabinet-level departments,” The New York Times writes (Jan. 1), “and as it drags on,...

“Individual faults and fragilities are no excuse to give in, and no exemption from the common obligation to give of ourselves. Today, more than ever before, I believe that each of us as individuals must not only struggle to make a better world, but to make ourselves better, too….” – Senator Edward M. Kennedy, speech at JFK School of Government,...

In a time of domestic chaos and conflict, CBS On the Road correspondent Steve Hartman updates his yearly story about Secret Santa… with twist, (Dec. 14). “A lot of people ignore the homeless, but folks rushing past Moses Elder might regret their haste. This week, all people had to do was pay him some attention and he would pay them...

Repeated every year by CBS News’ reporter Steve Hartman, this is one story of character and compassion I never get tired of. One very wealthy and very grateful gentleman travels the country and hands out $100 to individuals in need. CBS News cameras capture the reaction on the recipients year after year. However, Hartman explains how it all began. “The...

No, it’s not the latest Hallmark Christmas movie. It’s a new game from Parker Brothers that you and the whole family can be engaged and enraged in this holiday season. You know there’s a culture shift in the zeitgeist when toy company Hasbro — through it’s Parker Brothers division — announces a new version of the venerable Monopoly board game,...

In 2017, the United Nations convened a conference which resulted in The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. In 2017, the Nobel committee awarded The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons – better known as ICAN – its coveted Peace prize for their work leading to the U.N.’s goal. Who is ICAN? ICAN is a coalition of more than...

P.M. Forni, the early Italian Literature professor who asked all of us to choose civility, died earlier this month at his Maryland home. As a faculty member at Johns Hopkins University, Forni help found The Civility Project whose aim was to examine the importance of civility in society, and promote its practice on college campuses and communities around the country....