What does a white boy from the white suburbs of Washington, D.C., have to say about the passing of soul singer Aretha Franklin? At 16, I was a DJ on a local radio station, playing the rock ‘n’ roll and doo-wop recordings of the day. Many of the artists were black. Richard Penniman (aka “Little […]
Op-Eds
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Consider the consequences first
Waiting for a trolley at the 30th Street station in Philadelphia, I saw two clumps of weeds pushing up through the rock ballast and over the creosoted crossties, seeking sunshine and water to stay alive. That put me in mind of my father, now dead for nearly 68 years. If these brainless shreds of grass, […]
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John Brennan shows how to lose to Trump in one easy step
John Brennan may not know it, but he is acting in a drama scripted and produced by Donald J. Trump. As Eli Lake of Bloomberg perceptively observed, President Trump isn’t trying to silence Brennan by revoking his security clearance, as the former CIA director’s defenders insist, but elevate him as a foil. Trump couldn’t hope […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
A sane work-family balance can be achieved
Here’s a true story about a fine woman with an advanced degree whom I will not name for obvious reasons: We were chatting one day, when her little girl broke in to say she was hungry. It was 4:30 in the afternoon. Rather than respond with “Here’s a cookie to hold you until family dinner,” […]
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Brennan gains support after Trump action
WASHINGTON — Many in the intelligence community have been quietly dismayed by the hyperbolic partisan behavior of former CIA director John Brennan since Donald Trump took office. But by revoking Brennan’s security clearance, President Trump has managed to turn Brennan from an embarrassment into a martyr. The response to Trump’s action has been like the […]
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NATO faces increases in readiness levels
In early August 2008, Russian military forces invaded the nation of Georgia. An American action encouraged the Kremlin to halt its attack. U.S. Air Force transports flew elite Georgian infantrymen deployed in Iraq from Iraqi bases to their hard-pressed home country. August 2018, a decade later: Poland audaciously asked America to build a permanent U.S. […]
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Medical industry's problems will get worse
If you are frustrated by wait times to see your doctor, the cost of health insurance and prescription drugs, just wait until there may be no doctor to see. NBC News recently broadcast a story about how fewer young people are entering the medical profession. The network cited a report from the Association of American […]
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Environmental malpractice washes onto the beach
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency over an environmental disaster that he insists has nothing to do with him. It’s true that red tide — an evil-smelling algae bloom now fouling the precious beaches along Florida’s southwestern coast — is an oft-repeated natural phenomenon. Thousands of dead tarpons, manatees, sea turtles […]
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Will what happens in Turkey stay in Turkey?
WASHINGTON — The pertinent and unanswerable question about Turkey is whether the country’s present economic turmoil is an isolated event, mostly confined to Turkey itself, or whether it portends a larger economic convulsion that shakes markets around the world. Among economists and other experts, there’s no consensus. Some foresee contagion: Turkey’s problems will spread. Others […]
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The USS Indianapolis: A tale of horror and tragedy
The worst disaster in the history of the United States Navy only began with the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Three hundred men died in the initial catastrophe on July 30, 1945, then the survivors cast into the sea suffered unimaginable horrors, abandoned for days without food or water in shark-infested waters. The new book […]