Moral courage is a rare commodity, rarer still today. Those who stand up—frequently alone—to shine a light on corruption, deceit, and discrimination at the risk of their reputations and livelihoods are worthy of admiration. Republican representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, singer-songwriters Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, football coach Brian Flores—all have gone it alone in standing against reprehensible behavior,...

That’s what Harry Truman said of Gen. George C. Marshall–a characterization that easily applies to Gen. Colin L. Powell. You won’t find a picture of Colin Powell next to Leadership in the dictionary, but you should. You also won’t find him alongside Merriam-Webster’s definition of a Statesman, but no one can deny that Powell was “a wise, skillful, and respected...

Remembering 9/11, we tend to remember the whole event rather than the personal stories. More than 2,753 individuals died in New York City, Shanksville, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon that day. New York suffered the loss of 343 firefighters. One of them was 42-year veteran First Deputy Fire Commissioner William Feehan. It was reported that Feehan was so knowledgeable that he...

“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...

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...

Note: Sorry, folks, will return on Thursday. This past year has been an incredible challenge for us all, for some, brutally so. However, 13-year-old William Olmstead from Wilton, Connecticut chose a different challenge. CBS reporter Steve Hartman, tells this short but inspiring story. “Olmstead, a Boy Scout, loved camping until COVID-19 came along. So, he thought, what better way to...

His instruments were prehistoric by today’s standards. His seat was a lightweight, stiff, wicker chair with a thin cushion. He took four sandwiches on the trip: two ham, two roast beef. He flew without radio equipment or safety equipment in exchange for gasoline. At the time of his take-off, the small monoplane driven by a single 200-horse-powered Wright whirlwind engine...

Embed from Getty Images In 1941, as President Roosevelt remained reluctant to enter the war in Europe, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was dining with U.S. Ambassador John Gilbert Winant discussing England’s fate. Listening to the BBC, the radio station announced that the Japanese had attacked American ships at Pearl Harbor. Within minutes, Churchill received a phone call from FDR confirming...