I recently read an online complaint by a parent waiting for the cable guy to show up and fix a broken connection. “I scheduled the day off of work as I have three kids and 5 days without TV makes for…
Category: American Life
Taking Government out of Christmas
A recent article in a small town newspaper began: For years, atheists have tried to take Jesus Christ out of Christmas. That first sentence is another one of those inflammatory phrases that is careful worded to distort the truth. Speaking…
Yes, Virginia. There is a Santa Claus (bah humbug)
author’s note: This piece was originally published few days before Christmas of 1993 on the Editorial Page of the Wall Street Journal as an Editorial (NOT as a Letter to the Editor). For the Ebenezer Scrouges out there, the incidents…
The Broken Chained Consumer Price Index
There is a sound that does not exist Philosophers torture themseves (and us) with silly questions such as, “if a tree falls in a remote forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?”…
Subversive, Disloyal Americans Oppose US Military Budget
It is being suggested (I won’t even bother to say exactly where, so as to dignify them) that those who are calling for reduction in this country’s military budget are disloyal and maybe even anti-American. Maybe it is time to hear from…
Immigration Reform needs more than new policies.
A recent PBS interview with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano discussed immigration policy reform and enforcement. What follows below is the text of a response to her, posted on the PBS web site, just below the interview. I hope Ms. Napolitano reads this posting…
John McAfee? Been There, Done That
I’ve been following the sad story of 67-year-old John McAfee, who is, at this moment, in a Guatemalan jail. A story posted on the net a few hours ago says, “Software guru John McAfee wants to return to US.” I feel for…
You Can Walk Away. Just Pay $1,000 Cash
You’ll understand this post better if you first read the two other articles in this series. Busted for Possession You Might Need a Friend, Someday Late one afternoon, mid-Fall of 1968, shortly after I turned 35-years-old, as I was visiting…
You Might Need a Friend Someday
The previous post left you with a mystery. What was the connection between illegal spying by the Chicago Police Department during the 1968 Democratic National Convention and my walking away from an extortion attempt backed by the threat of 10 years in…
Busted For Possession
Do you remember 1968? Chicago? That wild democratic Convention? Yuppies? “The Whole World is Watching?” I wonder how many of you think that chant originated with the Occupy Wall Street movement. Unh-unh. It echoed off the walls of the Michigan Avenue hotels…