President Donald Trump Last week, I heard on National Public Radio a discussion about the strife among friends and family engendered by the tumultuous political events prior to and following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. It reminded me of historical situations in other countries I’d read about, by which longtime friends turned into […]
The Grammar Grouch is more dyspeptic than usual today. The thing which has him in high dudgeon is that totally, woefully, abysmally wrong pairing of the prepositions “between” and “to” in expressing the distance in whatever context from one item to another. Please read those last five words again: from one item to another. In […]
Hillary Clinton Be wary of Health Sciences Institute, an outfit that promotes dietary supplements and dispenses alternative medical advice. I have no problem with the organization’s health activities or products it pushes. My quarrel is with its operators’ radical right-wing political positions, which it promulgates in tandem with the health messaging. Health Sciences sponsors Medix […]
Chuck Schumer Okay, the Republican health-care bill is dead. The big thing now is the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court. I had assumed this was a done deal, and he would have no problem getting the votes. But Chuck Schumer, to his undying credit, says he’s opposing it all the way. […]
Bashar al-Assad What to make of President Trump’s decision last week to launch a missile strike against Syria? That question has garnered varied responses from both Republicans and Democrats. Some say he shouldn’t have done it; others say it was the right thing to do; and still others say he didn’t go far enough. […]
Robert Kennedy Jr. Perhaps the only positive thing President Donald Trump has done in his short time in office is to create a committee to investigate “vaccine safety and scientific integrity.” Yes, it’s an odd, contradictory act from a man who has denied the findings of almost all of the world’s scientists, and abundant […]
Bill O’Reilly Our new president has been promising for a long time to “make America great again.” Two things happened today that inspired me with suggestions on how he could begin. One concerned the downfall of a famous television commentator, and the other the unwieldy state of our health-care system. After decades of bloviating about […]
David Brooks David Brooks, ever the philosopher, had a piece the other day in the New York Times that paints a gloomy picture of a strong trend away from democracy in the Western part of the world. The moderately conservative Brooks, in the column carried Friday by the Palm Beach Post, briefly traced the […]
Star Parker Star Parker calls to mind the reformed smoker who has no tolerance for smokers. She was a wayward youth until she found Christianity, and now brooks no wantonness by disenfranchised members of society. She preaches a tough gospel of straightening up and flying right. John Calvin There may be some legitimacy […]
What a great week of music it was in different parts of the Palm Beaches. The 65-piece Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches presented an exhilarating concert in Lake Worth, featuring David Crohan, the long-time entertainer at L’Europe, one of Palm Beach’s best restaurants. That was at the beginning the week, which ended with an […]