A Christmas Carol in Prose Being a Ghost Story of Christmas first appeared in 1843, and for 180 years its message of redemption is more important than ever. Ebenezer Scrooge, a “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner,” is quick to criticize his nephew, his put-upon bookkeeper, and everyone about the utter wastefulness of a season that brings joy...

Embed from Getty Images Depressed about the last 12 months of well, . . . you fill in the blank. The magazine, Wired, reported a list of “21 Things That Made the World a Better Place in 2021.” Here are a few. More Than 8.47 Billion Covid-19 Vaccinations Were Administered Globally “In December 2020,  » Read more about: What’s So Good...

There’s a scene in the movie, The Princess Bride, where the undaunted hero—with all the kindness, smartness, and decency required of heroes—is doing what heroes do: saving his beloved Buttercup from kidnappers. At one point, he chases them to the Cliffs of Insanity, a rocky crag so high and so treacherous it makes Yosemite’s El Capitan look like a picnic....

In Michael Morell’s 2015 book, The Great War of Our Time, the former CIA deputy director begins with a stunning statement: “the threat of terrorism did not die with Bin Ladin in Abbottabad,” and, left unchecked, is the greatest threat to America. It’s an extraordinary book with details and insight that are both overwhelmingly thought-provoking and frightening. However, when misinformation...

CNN’s Chris Cuomo Prime Time offered a mix of news, interviews, and insights into politics and how those in power work the levers of power in Washington. He often reserved his harshest assessment of others for a segment called, “Let’s Get After It!” His approach throughout was straightforward as he fearlessly held political figures accountable, and on more than one...

These are the things . . . that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. — President Donald Trump, in a tweet posted on January 6, the day of the attack on Washington’s Capitol building. “The Mandate of Heaven was...

You have a right to defend yourself. Be armed, be dangerous, be moral. — Representative Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) How can you equate morality with a vigilante who killed two people, Mr. Cawthorn? Kyle Rittenhouse, the 18-year-old Illinois teen who shot and killed two men and wounded a third at a Kenosha Wisconsin riot that followed the shooting of a Black...

To mandate, or not to mandate, that is the question. For 18 months, Americans have tolerated masks, travel, and event restrictions, and virtual home hibernation. “Overall in the United States, 74.1 percent of Americans over five years old have at least one coronavirus shot, and 62.8 percent are fully vaccinated.” However, just when you thought it was safe to step...

Three stories this week are linked by a common thread: Defiance. “I’m telling you right now,” Trump ally Steve Bannon told reporters outside an FBI field office in Washington, “this is going to be the misdemeanor from hell for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden.” We’re “going to go on the offense,” Bannon said even as he live-streamed a...

“If the vaccine is so great, how come people are still getting Covid and spreading Covid and unfortunately, dying from Covid?”— Aaron Rodgers, quarterback for the Green Bay Packers Sports reporter Kurt Streeter writes, “Apparently, Rodgers missed the memo that while they are not foolproof, the vaccines are close to 90 percent effective and by far the best tools we...