journalism blog

As we get older, things start to fail, or at least slow us down. Notice I said “get older” as opposed to “old.” Older sounds more respectful. The word “old” usually has a negative connotation. “That old lady is holding up the line.” “That old man shouldn’t be in the fast lane.” “Get rid of

It was a terribly hot in Philadelphia in September, 1787 when a roomful of men were trying to create the Constitution for the new country. Maybe the most important meeting in American history.  Eighty-one year old Ben Franklin was a delegate. One of his contributions was setting up the two houses of congress. The House

I’m sure you’ve all been waiting to hear the Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year. Well it’s out. It’s actually two words, “Brain rot.” It was voted on by the public and Oxford lexicographers. The experts at Oxford claim the word gained new prominence in 2024. The frequentcy of use was up 230% over last

It had been eight years since I last saw my uncle. It was at the memorial for my mother, his sister. He was driven by one of his sons and his wife the three hours from Long Island. He was slightly stooped over and walked slowly. After the service and my eulogy, I spoke with

As we enter this new unchartered phase of American democracy, everyone has a theory about how Donald Trump won a stunning comeback victory. The one thing we keep hearing from voters and pollsters, it was the economy. Specifically, the price of groceries. Inflation had come down. Unemployment is at an historic low and wages are

Everyone expected it to be close. All the polls showed a dead heat. It was about the “Battleground States” and the “Blue Wall”. It wasn’t close. It was a blow out. Trump supporters are delirious over having their guy back in charge. The rest of the country is stunned that the country elected the most

“…it’s a very dangerous thing to have the wrong person elected to high office.” This is from Marine General John Kelly who spent a year and a half as Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff. He was one of Trump’s closest aides who saw him on a daily basis. He is one of over ninety former

It’s one month away. We are anticipating it. We are fearing it. We are hoping the madness will end. It appears it’s going to be close. And we know one candidate is a very sore loser. The presidential election will be one of the most consequential in our lifetime, maybe in our history. It certainly

Flying. We all do it. We take vacations. We fly for business. It’s one of the most unpleasant experiences we put up with to get where we’re going. The only other experience I can compare it to is going to the hospital for surgery. Which is something no one looks forward to. For both surgery

The story goes that Ernest Hemingway was challenged with a bet to write a story in six words. Not a good bet. Hemingway supposedly wrote, “For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.” Hemingway went on to write six word sequels. But upon closer examination of history, there are serious doubts about where the story really came