For more than 15 years now, much of the world’s attention has been focused on the danger posed by Islamic extremists. That threat is real, of course. But it will not end up being the defining ideological conflict of our time. Despite the apocalyptic fantasies of both Islamic and Christian fundamentalists, we won’t see any […]

I keep hearing about how freedom in the United States is under attack. I couldn’t agree more. Let’s just look at the many ways our freedom is threatened. The freedom to vote: We have efforts underway in many states to make it harder to vote, and two years ago the U.S. Supreme Court made it more […]

If you are part of the American left, middle, or the non-crazy right, you need to read Lane Kenworthy’s “Social Democratic America”. I’m coming a little late to this party. His book was published in early 2014, and I wish I had heard about it at the time. Kenworthy lays out an honest, clear, evidence-based […]

Recently a fever swept through our household. Both of my children and I each were laid low for a few days. Now that we’re fully recovered, it’s time to be grateful. Thats right, grateful. I can think of twelve reasons: I’m grateful for living in a scientifically advanced world that has knowledge of viruses. I’m grateful […]

Today we get a report from Reuters on new research from Oklahoma that the disposal of wastewater from oil and gas drilling into underground wells is likely linked to earthquakes in that state. Hey, conservatives, listen up. You often claim to oppose socialism. But this is a kind of socialism – the BAD kind. The oil […]

We have had four presidential announcements now – three Republican (Paul, Cruz, Rubio) and one Democratic (Clinton). Of the three Republican announcements, the word “freedom” rings out twelve times. You hear “liberty” 26 times. How many times do you hear the words freedom and liberty in Clinton’s announcement? Zero, zilch, nada. Sigh. As I’ve written […]

Let’s take it as a given that the United States is the world’s preeminent nation state and that the U.S. president matters a great deal to international affairs. That said, there are three BILLION people in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore (where I live now) that likely don’t care what the three MILLION […]

As a good liberal, I prefer to see people as individuals rather than groups. I like to judge people by the content of the character and their actions, rather than characteristics they were simply born into. But let me take a moment and play the generational blame game in politics. This is going to sound […]

As ready as I’m supposed to be for Hillary Clinton, I have to admit that I find it hard to trust her – at least on the issues I care about most when it comes to the presidency. Let me be clear: I think she is one of the most qualified people to be president that […]