Looking at consensus presidential polling from FiveThirtyEight , Trump has a one percent lead over Biden, 41.5% vs 40.5%. In other words, the people responding to the polls are not excited about either 2024 presidential candidate. Biden has lost favor because of persistent inflation, immigration problems, support of Israel during the invasion of Gaza and, […]
Read MoreElected Again?
Grover Cleveland had been the mayor of Buffalo, NY in 1881 and the following year, governor of New York. He led the Bourbon Democrats, a classical liberal organization opposed to high tariffs, inflation, imperialism, and subsidies to business. He fought against political corruption, patronage, and bossism. Grover Cleveland was praised for honesty, self-reliance, integrity, and […]
Read MoreCan Politicians Be Leaders?
We are living in an era when many politicians are entertainers rather than leaders. Getting the important things done has become secondary to being bellicose with personal attacks on opponents – flinging talking points without substance. Peter Drucker: “Management is doing things right; Leadership is doing the right things.” Our elected representatives need to recognize […]
Read MoreA Place to Call Home
According to data from the Feds, home sales have surged in the last few years and the median sale price has steadily risen. At the same time rental vacancy rates have plunged to 5.6% as of the end of 2021. The most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that 46% of renters in […]
Read MoreBig Bang
The Big Bang Theory argues that “space” suddenly and rapidly started to expand about 13.8 billion years ago. “The Big Bang” is referred to as the “birth” of the universe. It represents the point in history where the laws of physics, as we understand, them work. It was not an explosion of matter in space […]
Read More
History Gaps?
George Santos (R- New York) has created a fabulous personal history out of thin air. His history, as an elite athlete and volleyball star, savvy business tycoon, friend of dogs, grandson of holocaust survivors got him elected. So it worked? When we read history, we tend to accept it as being truthful. It’s written […]
Read MoreAccomplishing Something
Why can’t we get things done collectively? There are many reasons why our personal plans fall short. One common reason is that our plan is not well thought out. A cure for this is to collaborate with someone. “Two heads are better than one”, attributed to John Heywood in his Dialogue of proverbs (1546), is […]
Read MoreWhat Is War?
War has played a major role in human history, whether war is raging or not. During peace-time the military prepares for war, while society absorbs the cost. Some theories consider war to be an integral part of the essence of humankind while others consider war to be the result of specific economic or ecological conditions. […]
Read More
Who are the Poor?
The US poverty rate when first measured in 1959 was 22.4%. The rate declined during the 1960s. Since then, however, poverty has consistently been between 10% and 15%. The most recent official poverty measure estimates that 11.4% of the US population, 37.2 million people, were poor in 2020. In 2018, poverty in the US was set […]
Read MoreInnocent, But Convicted
More innocent peopleare jailed than ever before. Exonerations are up exposing a justice system that doesn’t provide justice for the poor. The statistics of who gets convicted while innocent show stark differences by race. Children and people with mental disabilities are also treated unfairly. Why? There are several reasons. Here are important ones: Poverty and […]
Read More