Columns

Is an exosuit in your future?

“You load 16 tons and what do you get? Disability payments and not a Corvette.” – with apologies to Tennessee Ernie Ford.

No little green men, yet

A new report by the federal Office of the Director of National Intelligence doesn’t use the term “flying saucers” or even “UFOs,” but says there are dozens of instances of “unidentified aerial phenomena” that it can’t explain.

The arc of justice bends for Bill Cosby

“Evil may so shape events that Caesar will occupy a palace and Christ a cross, but that same Christ will rise up and split history into A.D. and B.C., so that even the life of Caesar must be dated by his name. Yes, ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’”

Thanks for the wonderful days, Jack

Every night, just before bed, he’d thank his bride of 70 years for giving him another wonderful day on Earth. That was the sweet-hearted nature of Jack Krieger, my family’s next-door neighbor for more than 30 years.

Civics lessons for the Fourth

You can become an American citizen by being born in the U.S. or you can become one by getting “naturalized.” Becoming naturalized is a heck of a lot harder.

Craving a buffet rebirth?

“Buffets Are Back — With New Policies and Gloves,” blared the headline recent on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. That was welcome news for my pandemic-weary family. I was afraid such wide-open dining would go the way of the dinosaur. (“Look out!

Honk if you see the ball

There are still a few of us of a certain vintage who remember the rough-and-ready days of Evangeline League baseball, where rivalries were so hot that at most games you were more likely to see a big brawl than a double play.

Free speech extends to students, too

One of the first cases I studied at Villanova was Tinker v. Des Moines, a seminal case in free speech and student’s rights. In December of 1965, the week I turned four, a group of high school students in Des Moines Iowa decided to wear black armbands to class in protest of the Vietnam War.

The language of abortion changes, but not the reality

We use euphemisms to soften reality. We do it all the time when forced to discuss things we would rather not discuss or even acknowledge. Death comes to mind. I’ve completed an exhaustive study and determined that death affects one out of one human beings.

Political emails reach new lows

With Joe Biden’s presidency nearing the six-month mark, the Republican National Committee sent out a “Biden Report Card”—a poll in which Biden’s performance is graded from A to F. The RNC email begins, “Friend, Let’s be clear. Joe Biden is a FAILURE.”