Important Note:
Opinions are fun. My friends tell me I am someone with lots of opinions and that's fine since I don't get mad at others when they disagree with me. In this same spirit I am interested in hearing yours views as long as you are able to share your views without boiling over. I look forward to hearing from you. I tend to write in the form of short essays most of the time, but contributions do not need to be in this same format or size. Some of the content here will date itself pretty quickly, other content may be virtually timeless, this is for the reader to judge.
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Are Labor Unions relevant?
Posted at: Feb/28/2011 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Society,
For the sake of fair disclosure I need to be clear right from the start; I am not a union member and to this point have made a significant effort in my professional life to avoid being a part of a unionized work environment. Labor unions have played a very important part in the American economy. In particular, during the post WWII decades when U.S. manufacturing dominated the world economic st.....read more…
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Bread and Circuses
Posted at: Feb/16/2011 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: World Watching,
Have you heard the term “Bread and Circuses” before? The phrase originates from a Roman poet named Juvenal from around 100AD (now CE). In content the phrase points to how the Roman populace had given up its birthright of political involvement for bread and circuses. Specifically, Juvenal was pointing to how Roman politicians no longer attained power through heroism, instead they acquired their .....read more…
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Watching Egypt
Posted at: Feb/09/2011 : Posted by: mel
If you have been paying attention to any news, you are aware that people have been in the streets in Egypt for nearly two weeks protesting the current government of Hosni Mubarak. The media likes to find quick and simple reasons to explain all this unrest, but I see many factors at work. Over the years, American officials have with frequency lectured other countries about their denial of basic .....read more…
The trust fund myth!
Posted at: Feb/08/2011 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Politics & Gov,
I am here to tell you that the Social Security “Trust Fund” is an illusion. Did I say something wrong? This essay is not meant to scare you; this is meant to educate you. Social Security is most likely the largest single federal program that there is. I am not sure if basing a program of this scale on an illusionary title is good governmental policy, or just accidently misleading, others can d.....read more…
The Ronald Reagan Legacy
Posted at: Feb/06/2011 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Historical Insights,
I know, there has already been a lot written about Ronald Reagan, so why should I say anything? There is no doubt that if you want to do some research on our 40th President, you will find a daunting amount of information. Actually my inspiration is his rapidly approaching 100th birthday, but the reason I am writing is because I feel the need to say something from my own perspective. .....read more…
Remembering the Shuttle Challenger
Posted at: Jan/28/2011 : Posted by: mel
It has been a quarter of a century since the NASA space shuttle Challenger exploded, and to be honest, it still prompts me to tear up a little. A disaster happened that day which became one of those “where were you moments.” Lives were lost, NASA’s luster faded significantly, and our innocence about space exploration and space travel in particular was lost. On Jan 28 of 1986 the spa.....read more…
Hypocrisy at the synagogue
Posted at: Jan/22/2011 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: My philosophy,
First of all, let me say that fairness counts. I have commented in the past on the Catholic Church and their apparent lack of responsibility in the ever growing child sex abuse scandal. I have commented on the Westboro Baptist Church and their abuse of our constitutional protection of free speech. It is time to open up one of those issues in Judaism that reeks of hypocrisy. My iss.....read more…
The truth about Afghanistan
Posted at: Jan/18/2011 : Posted by: mel
It has been said that Afghanistan is the “Graveyard of Empires.” If this statement is true, the United States needs to seriously consider the long term impact of our continued presence in this misleading and complicated place. Afghanistan has a reputation for undoing the sometimes ambitious goals of empires and great powers. In the past two hundred years, both Soviet Union and British army’s .....read more…
The 112th Congress
Posted at: Jan/11/2011 : Posted by: mel
It is January 2011, and the Republicans in Congress are entitled to a bit of gloating as they settle into their new positions of power and get down to work. With the election behind them the Republican Party now holds a majority in the house and therefore also heads all the major committees. The GOP also made inroads in the Senate though they do not hold a majority. They said the voters made this .....read more…
Huck Finn goes PC
Posted at: Jan/05/2011 : Posted by: mel
Have you heard the news, two scholars are editing Mark Twain's classic “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” to eliminate uses of the "N-word” (nigger) and replace it with "slave." Their argument for this is that they want to publish a version that won't be banned from some schools because of its language. This new edition being published by NewSouth Books, will also shorten a fairly detailed and of.....read more…