Tenzin Gyatso is the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet. He is both head of state (in exile) and the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He is admired and esteemed worldwide as a man who has championed policies of nonviolence. His consistent compassionate nonviolence, even in the face of great aggression, led to his receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace in...

Digging deeper into the write-in responses from the Capps/Zogby Poll entitled, What Americans Expect from the Next President and Congress, I was struck by the direct, sometimes blunt language and emotion from Americans. In response to what qualities the country needs most from the next president, most offered a list of traits, many more took the time to put forth their own...

We’ve all heard the expression, “Let the punishment fit the crime”?  Well, for one Colorado judge it couldn’t be more apt! “After seeing so many people return for repeat noise offending,” Reuters news service reported, “Paul Sacco, a judge at Fort Lipton Municipal Court, will punish them by playing music they can’t stand for a full hour.” Who did judge...

“The most important thing to understand about nuclear weapons is this:  these weapons do not and cannot provide physical protection to their possessors.” These are the opening words from a written appeal by David Krieger addressed to the next president of the United States. Last May, I chose Krieger as my ethical hero of the month due to his tireless...

Before President-elect Barack Obama has taken the oath of office; before he offered up his election-night speech in which he focused on how he intends to lead the country, conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh began his criticism. “He [newly appointed Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel] is a good old-fashioned Chicago thug just like Obama is a good old-fashioned Chicago thug.” This is...

For those of you tuning in late to Florida politics: Republican Congressman Mark Foley resigned in 2006 after reports that he sent sexually explicit e-mails to former male congressional pages. Now, word comes that Democratic Congressman Tim Mahoney, the man elected to replace Foley, has, himself, been involved in a sexual liaison with a staffer.  Moreover, the Washington Post reported that Mahoney...

I met Paul Newman when he called one afternoon to congratulate me about the release of my book, The Lone Ranger’s Code of the West. He was quick to point out, though, that he did not make salad dressing nor had he worked with Robert Redford. “My name,” he stressed, “is Paul S. Newman.” Newman was a comic-book writer so prolific that he was listed...

In explaining the importance of a $700 Billion dollar plan to shore up the economy, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson said in an interview that, in affect …the American people don’t understand this. Mr. Paulson is a finance guy, not an education guy. Moments before the House was due to vote on a very complex and highly contentious bill,...

While in Boston this week, I went to see the Red Sox clinch a spot in the playoffs last night against the Cleveland Indians.  Protecting a one run lead in the eighth and ninth inning, Jonathan Papelbon, the Sox go-to closer, closed the door on the Indians with consecutive 96-mile-an-hour fastballs. I’ve been to Fenway on previous visits and have...

In this e-mailing, BlackBerry, instant-messaging world, we seem to have forgotten something – the well-mannered tradition of a “Thank You” note. “We just want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts…”  “As always, thanks so much for your hospitality and friendship…”  “Thanks for having us over…” While the first two notes came from out-of-town friends, the last note...