Arriving early for a Christmas event, I sat down with Mr. and Mrs. Claus, also early arrivals. “Jim,” Mrs. Claus says, “We’re walking up the street to Starbucks for some hot chocolate, wanna come? “Okay,” I said. As soon as we walk into an airy merry night, Santa is immediately met with smiles, handshakes and requests for photos from teens,...

Note to Readers: Will return shortly. Had a long day working on a long-term project. (It’ll be worth it when I’m finished. I promise.) Every year since 2007, cable news network, CNN, receives nominations for its “CNN Heroes” award. Ten nominees are chosen, each demonstrating that they have made “extraordinary contributions to humanitarian aid and [made] a difference in their...

I met Sarah Witmer at a meeting at The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation some time ago and, in looking through the non-profit’s website, came across a powerful speech she gave last year at an event for the organization. Sarah moved to Japan when she was 11-years old. “As I learned to speak Japanese,” she writes, “I was able to communicate...

Wildfires have taken a huge toll on California. However, the small town of Paradise has faced the unimaginable. That’s when Woody came to visit. The Camp Fire, in Northern California, was the most destructive wildfire in California history killing 86 people and, at one point, leaving nearly 500 people unaccounted for. The fire in Paradise and neighboring communities in Butte...

“These are the times that try men’s souls.” – Thomas Paine, English-born, American philosopher and activist. Taken from Paine’s essay, The Crisis, those words were meant to inspire American revolutionaries as they faced an extraordinary moment of character. Considering our current crisis, what Paine writes next is worth reflection. “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will,  » Read more about:...

The first warning came on September 5, 2018 when The New York Times published an anonymous Op-Ed from “a senior official in the Trump administration.” “The dilemma,” anonymous writes, “which [Trump] does not fully grasp, is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst...

I first met David Krieger at a talk he gave in 2000. What impressed me was his passion, commitment and soft-spoken approach to ending nuclear weapons, worldwide, (and I thought getting people to live more ethically was difficult!) Founded in 1982, The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s mission “is to educate, advocate, and inspire action for a just and peaceful world,...

It’s no longer about right vs. wrong; it’s about Democrat vs. Republican. It’s not about looking at the facts; it’s about looking at the latest tweet from the president. It’s not about loyalty to the Constitution; it’s about loyalty to a corrupt president and his die hard base. That’s Washington, in a nutshell. What’s missing from that curt analysis is...

These days, Washington is loaded with bad news, cynicism, corruption, and perhaps more division than we have all seen in our lifetimes. But at Thirteenth Street and Potomac Avenue, the kindness of strangers still exists and … so does gratitude. As reported by WUSA, channel 9 in D.C. (Aug. 22), “The notes appeared mysteriously overnight. “A mysterious heart attack victim...

José Andrés is the celebrity chef known round the world, not just for his popular cuisines, but as commander-in-chef and founder of World Central Kitchen. Not only does he go to countries ravaged by hurricanes and floods, he literally feeds millions. “Nearly two years ago,” The Washington Post writes (Sept. 3), “José Andrés and World Central Kitchen found themselves battling...