It’s Christmas and while everyone and their dog is having fun ice skating, Charlie Brown is glum. The always self-conscious little bald kid is depressed. This comes as no great surprise to the many millions that watch the perennial favorite each year. So what is he depressed about this time? “I like getting presents,” he tells Linus, “and sending Christmas...

Okay, I’ve trotted out this story before. However, it is the universal message in everyday stories like this that informs my own life and that is why this story speaks to me. To begin with, it actually happened at Christmastime. Second, our smiling protagonist IS just that genuine in her intentions and her actions. That is not to say that she’s a...

America’s young adults are dealing with a lackluster job market, political gridlock in Washington and uncertainty about their country’s role on the global stage. Despite these challenges, veteran pollster John Zogby argues that America’s “First Global” generation has an outward-looking perspective that may be its best asset in a rapidly changing world. This commentary first appeared in The Financialist (May 14). What...

On this eve before Christmas, a heartwarming interview with the one man we all look forward to seeing, or at least hearing something positive from. I’m speaking, of course, of Santa Claus. So here, from December 25, 2009 is my supper with Santa. Of all the high-profile people I’ve had the opportunity to interview, Santa Claus was just about the...

“There are no easy answers’,” Ronald Reagan used to say, “but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.” There is moral right and moral righteousness. And there are far too many in Congress who act from the later and not enough of the former who are willing to stand up...

May we embrace peace with justice.  May we speak for it and stand for it.  May we make our voices heard and our presence felt. May we awaken to the possibilities of our greatness if we stop wasting our resources on war and its preparation. May we end all war in the new year.  Wars always end.  May we end...

Tributes to Ronald Reagan occupied much of this past weekend on what would have been the 100th birthday of the 40th President. It’s always interesting to observe that the longer a 20th century president has been out of office, the more glowing the tributes.  While many such tributes seem forced, such is not the case with Reagan. Ronald Reagan was...

Edith Shain, the nurse who became something of an icon along with the sailor who kissed her in a very crowded Times Square on V-J Day in 1945, died last week. Both the sailor and the nurse remained anonymous for years until Shain wrote a letter to Life Magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt. “Thirty-five years later,” The New York Times wrote, “Mrs. Shain,  » Read more about: Hope,...

News stories continue to reflect challenging times for us as individuals and a country.  The ethical constitution of our nation has never been more important. As we approach another election cycle, I thought it important to revisit some of the thoughts I expressed last year in a commentary called, “Hope in a Time of Uncertainty,” whose only addition comes from...

In the cut-throat world of fine Parisian dining, the food critic is King.  In the Pixar movie Ratatouille, Anton Ego (superbly voiced by Peter O’Toole), is Emperor!  “The Grim Eater” as he is known, strikes fear into the hearts of anyone even thinking about offering a new dish without his “divine” approval. In my little niche of essays on ethics, I strive...