“Courage shows up all the time in this world and often without any fanfare.”—Michael Keaton, in a 2018 speech honoring the centennial celebration of the founding of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission by Andrew Carnegie. On July 20, 2012 the horrific shooting an Aurora, Colorado movie theater left 12 dead, and 70 wounded. Heroism arrived on the scene when first...

What is actor, William Shatner looking at? “This covering of blue is this sheet, this blanket, this comforter of blue around that we have around us.” That’s how Shatner described the earth’s atmosphere after a 10-minute flight aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard space capsule. What I would love to do is to communicate as much as possible is the jeopardy....

We are living in an age of animosity that has momentarily killed our faith in each other. If I’m repeating a refrain from past commentaries, so be it. We need to be reminded of the cancer that is infecting America’s soul—anger that leads to hate, hate to violence and a helplessness that cries out for healing. Every now and then...

Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.  —Robert Kennedy Before a campaign appearance in Indianapolis, Indiana, Sen. Robert Kennedy had just learned of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.. The crowd he was planning to address had not yet...

“How can we love our country and not love our countrymen? And loving them, reach out a hand when they fall, heal them when they’re sick, and provide opportunities to make them self-sufficient so they will be equal in fact and not just in theory.” —Ronald Reagan Disinformation, disfunction, violence, a deadly virus, vaccination deniers, climate deniers, wildfires, hurricanes, floods....

“We cannot guarantee that we shall one day be first. We can guarantee that any failure to make this effort will make us last.” – John F. Kennedy With all the turbulence in the world, it seems fitting that American’s are once again looking to the stars. Only this time, it’s through the eyes of citizen astronauts. I remember getting...

Entitlement is the new justification where people behave badly believing they can pretty much do whatever they want by claiming… “It’s my right to (fill in the blank).” They feel entitled to refuse to wear masks and social distance (even though federal guidelines are intended to protect themselves and others). They feel entitled to punch anyone in the face who...

Social division, racial division, political division, economic division, lies, rage, violence. After another mass shooting, California Governor Gavin Newson said, “What the hell is going on in the United States of America? What the hell is wrong with us?” Before all this rage and violence exploded, too many were living lives of quiet desperation – desperate to be heard, desperate...

In the ’70s film, The Graduate, young Benjamin Braddock is attending a celebratory party arranged by his parents when he is pulled to the side by a business friend of the family. The older man puts his arm around Ben, then lowers his voice before distilling his business wisdom into one word: Plastics. Plastics may have been the best career...

I didn’t know much about Tyler Perry before Sunday’s Academy Award event. I sure know a lot more now. Last Sunday, Perry was the recipient of the Gene Hersholt Humanitarian Award. The honor is only periodically given to an “individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.” And Perry more than qualified. His...