I read an interesting article that brought together my concerns both about zoning and land use and religious freedom issues.  It seems the City of Palo Alto, California, quite a nice place to live it is said, and the home of the elite Stanford University, is “cracking down on churches” that allegedly violate its zoning […]

The Democratic Party, recognizing that it has lost touch with many of its former constituents, rolled out its “Better Deal” this week in Virginia.  We have now had Teddy Roosevelt’s “Square Deal,” Franklin Roosevelt’s more famous (or infamous) “New Deal,” Harry Truman’s “Fair Deal,” and now the latest “deal” for the American people.  All of […]

Civil Asset Forfeiture (CAF) is back in the news as Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced an expanded Federal program just the other day.  I was extremely surprised and disappointed in his announcement.  Like other Federal forays (and in this case, state), the CAF program has been so abused by law enforcement that it must be […]

Many Americans of all political stripes consider the heated level of political rhetoric to be harmful to our country, and the recognition that we’re very divided is not generally seen as a good thing.  Yet I think we often fail to see the reason why there is seemingly more division.  We blame the 24 hour […]

Turning the battle of Dunkirk into a film presents obvious challenges, for it was less a battle and more a retreat. Filming a strategic withdrawal that occurs at the beginning of a protracted war harbors no obvious moments of glory and only a muted climax. Christopher Nolan, the director and obvious driving force behind the […]

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Gard family tonight, as they mourn the loss of their baby boy.  We sorrow alongside of them. The Gard family’s grief compels us to ask a difficult question that lies at the heart of recent debates over healthcare in America.  Who should determine and provide healthcare needs for […]

Dick Armey, the former majority leader of the House of Representatives during the 90s, used to say something to the effect of “Republicans are always afraid you won’t understand the issue; Democrats are always afraid you will”  Democrats seemingly could care less about reams of data, but live and die by the anecdote–they just need […]

How has US culture become so coarse, so quickly? I subscribe to an email list from the White House “1600 Daily”. I periodically receive news alerts and “what is going on” messages from the Administration. At 9:01 am eastern on 7/20/17 I received an email that said: Yesterday, I met with Republican Senators at the White House […]

And it must be compulsory, through taxation, as government is “what we do together.”  So this past week we saw Seattle pass an income tax (which may be unconstitutional), amid the cry of its citizens to be allowed to pay their fair share. …backers of the measure rallied supporters, including software developer Carissa Knipe, who […]

Along with Utah Senator Mike Lee, the Republican Senator from Kansas, Jerry Moran, said Monday he would be unable to support the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017. The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 is the Senate’s attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. As I write this post there are reports that Republicans […]