I’m grateful Barack Obama won reelection. Of the two candidates he is the more principled and the one more able to understand and address the needs of the entire country, not just the other 47%. In spite of the powerful propaganda that says he has done nothing during the past four years, Obama has [...]
Category Archives: Social matters
9/11, Hurricanes, Elections, and Change
During a conversation with a friend soon after September 11, 2001, I compared the al-Qaeda attacks to a major natural disaster. The difference, I said, was our collective reaction. Suppose a tremendous earthquake had toppled the World Trade Center. The destruction would have been widespread, with thousands more people killed. Would there still be this angry, vengeful response which [...]
The Truth About the Meaning of Words
In 1871, when Through the Looking-Glass was published, Lewis Carroll had it right. Words can mean whatever we want them to. People use words to communicate. And if we sincerely want others to understand our meaning, then we must work hard to make sure we mean what we say—and say what we mean—with as little confusion [...]
