Capitalism is killing the planet. Or is capitalism saving our planet? Loving money may be a deadly sin, but liking money encourages us to be careful stewards of scarce resources. Saving our money by being thoughtful and well-informed shoppers is an excellent general strategy for sustainability. When we buy only what we actually want and […]

Daily news reports hide what may be the real news. By focusing only on the day’s events, we may be misled and miss the underlying reality. This possibility arises on the most central issues these days. Most important is the war between Israel and Hamas, a terrorist group. Nothing good can be said about Hamas, […]

As my term serving as board president for Oasis Free Clinics comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on the extraordinary individuals who form the backbone of our organization. It’s these moments of introspection that make me realize the profound impact our staff and volunteers have made, not just on the community we serve, […]

Let’s start with a pop quiz. What well known American said the following words on Veterans Day? “In honor of our great veterans on Veterans Day, we pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, racists and radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, lie, steal and […]

Do you ever get a weird sort of feeling when you pass a home that’s obviously dying? You know what I mean; houses long empty that are dark and shadowy even though the sun is shining brightly? Houses that stare out at the world with window eyes that can no longer see, their panes jagged […]

Here’s an unpleasant holiday statistic: Average Americans are giving significantly less to their favorite charities this year than they did just four or five years ago. Average Americans have long been among the most generous people on Earth. But this year, thanks to an economy disrupted by covid, soaring interest rates and three years of […]

Waterloo. The apocalypse. The Titanic. These are just some of the terms observers are employing to describe the current state of the Republican party. For many, there is a deep-seated sentiment the party of Abraham Lincoln is coming apart at the seams and imploding at Armageddon-like speed. Talk of political parties facing impending doom is […]

On March 13, 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected by the College of Cardinals to succeed Jozef Ratzinger as pope. Pope Francis was the third non-Italian, after Karol Wotyla of Poland and the aforementioned Ratzinger, to lead the church in over 500 years. There was a great deal of celebration and expectation at […]

THE CONVERSATION — The abandoned fieldstone walls of New England are every bit as iconic to the region as lobster pots, town greens, sap buckets and fall foliage. They seem to be everywhere — a latticework of dry, lichen-crusted stone ridges separating a patchwork of otherwise moist soils. Stone walls can be found here and there […]