We expect parents to help their children through tough times as they are growing up, but by the time most people become adults, mommy and daddy usually don’t have to worry about picking up the pieces after their kids screw up. But every now and then we come across an adult who never seemed to […]

When is a nuclear threat NOT a nuclear threat? When the Bush administration thinks it IS one. Despite a current intelligence report that indicates that Iran’s nuclear weapons program was halted in 2003, current and former members of Team Bush continue to assert that Iran is a looming threat to American security and the security […]

Higher fuel costs are increasing the cost of food. The push towards corn-based biofuels has increased the cost of food too. And a stagnant economy has tightened the budgets of Americans everywhere. Economic numbers put forth by the government never account for food and fuel costs when determining the “state of the economy,” allowing them […]

The vocal minority that is the religious right would have you believe that homosexuality is an evil plague that will destroy the fabric of America. They have spent the last decade trying to pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and, failing in that, have taken their […]

This week is “Green Week” on NBC, a television network owned by General Electric, maker of all those fine, sparkly things that makes America the most materialistically enjoyable place to live in the world. On one hand, I have to commend NBC and GE for bringing to light the plight of global climate change and […]

I recently finished reading a book called The Summer of 1787. It was an historical account of the drafting of the U.S. Constitution based on the writings of (convention secretary and 4th president) James Madison and other delegates to that convention. The book details the struggle to craft a charter for our fledgling government, and […]

In return for North Korea’s agreement to take further steps to eliminate that country’s nuclear program, the United States has indicated that it may remove North Korea from it’s official list of countries that sponsor terrorism, a sign that would surely also remove North Korea from the vaunted Axis of Evil club that President Bush […]

As Congress struggles to pass legislation that will keep SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) funded, they once again turn to tobacco taxation as the key. Depending on which bill you look at (House or Senate) the proposed federal tax increase on tobacco would be 45 or 61 cents (per pack of cigarettes). Tobacco taxation, […]

I haven’t read a newspaper, perused a blog entry, watched TV news, or listened to any talk radio since August 30th. I have little to no idea about what has been happening in Iraq, Congress, or around the world. For me, it’s almost as if time stopped two and a half weeks ago, and ever […]

For anyone who’s studied the history of marijuana prohibition in the United States, it’s pretty clear that financial greed was at the heart of taking a magnificently useful plant off the market to make way for the petrochemical industry, as well as the textile and paper industries. Prior to hemp’s becoming illegal, it was used […]