The Windbags of War

  Let me introduce you to Evelyn Farkas.  In September 2015, Dr. Farkas resigned as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia after five years in the Obama administration.  Previously she served as executive director of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction and staff member to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Politico.com … Read more

How to Build A Conspiracy Theory

Disclaimer:  One modus operandi of the Donald Trump campaign has been the creation and distribution of conspiracy theories about his rivals.  Perhaps the most infamous  was linking Ted Cruz’s father to Lee Harvey Oswald.  Recently the campaign has pieced together unrelated information and video clips to suggest Hillary Clinton was physically ill and incapable of fulfilling … Read more

Turning Lemons Into Lemonettes

  In his award winning video Everyday Creativity, National Geographic photographer Dewitt Jones suggests one key to living a creative life is by “reframing problems into opportunities.”  Some people suggest Jones is merely restating the old adage, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” a time-tested principle which can be found in English translations of Plato’s Republic.   … Read more

Are We Really THAT Dissatisfied?

  Among the questions included in the Reuters/Ipsos “Core Political Data” tracking poll is the following. Generally speaking, would you say things in this country are heading in the right direction, or are they off on the wrong track? The sample size is 1607 American citizens with a sampling error of plus or minus 2.8 … Read more

The Wrong Questions on Tax Returns

  Yesterday, Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence announced he plans to release his tax returns before the election.  The media’s response to the news was to ask the following questions of Donald Trump surrogates and their pundits. Does this put more pressure on Donald Trump to release his own returns? Do you think Pence … Read more