Twenty-four dollars. That, supposedly, was the price Gov. Peter Minuit paid American Indians for the island of Manhattan in 1625. It’s a tale historians find suspect. In the first place, whatever Minuit paid was in goods valued at 60 17th-century Dutch guilders; the calculation that this equaled 24 U.S. dollars was made two centuries later […]

This is a column about campaign finance reform. And your eyes glazed over just then, didn’t they? That’s the problem with this problem. Americans know that government truly of, by and for the people is unlikely if not impossible so long as the system is polluted by billions of dollars in contributions from corporations and […]

“We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work.” — Rep. Paul Ryan “You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a (poor) person ample food […]

What excuses will they make this time? Meaning that cadre of letters-to-the-editor writers and conservative pundits who so reliably say such stupid things whenever the subject is race. Indeed, race is the third rail of American conscience; to touch it is to be zapped by rationalizations, justifications and lies that defy reason, but that some […]

And what shall we say now that the monster has died? His estranged sons Mark and Nate told the world just a few days ago that their 84-year old father, Fred Phelps, was in the care of a hospice and “on the edge of death.” Thursday morning, he went over the edge. The senior Phelps, […]

Who speaks for Ghanson Debrosse? Before he was born, many people did. Anti-abortion groups did. Churches did. Protesters did. And lawmakers did. Florida, for instance, requires that a woman undergo an ultrasound before getting an abortion, and the provider must offer her the option of viewing the image. Ghanson was not aborted. He was born, […]

It’s your fault Justin Bieber is a jerk. That’s the contention of attorney Roy Black, who is defending the 20-year-old singer on a DUI charge stemming from a Jan. 23 arrest in Miami Beach. Black spoke to reporters last week as video of Bieber’s deposition in the case of an alleged assault by one of […]

A few words about Nathan Entingh’s hand gun. Meaning, you should understand, not a gun you hold in your hand, but rather, the hand itself, thumb cocked and index finger extended to resemble a pistol. One afternoon late last month, Entingh, who goes to school in Columbus, Ohio, was goofing off in science class when […]

Eighty-three-year old Ron Kilmartin was in a hospice, dying of lung cancer. His daughter was at his bedside, cracking jokes about it. Here’s one: “Last week, Dad coughed and said, ‘choking.’ I tried to give him water but he just wanted me to turn off the men’s Olympic hockey game.” Cracking jokes is what Laurie […]

A plea for about a dozen people who know who they are: Will you see “12 Years A Slave” now? It just won the Oscar for Best Picture. It just came out on DVD. Please see it. I’ll even spring for the popcorn. You see, I keep encountering folks, mostly African-American, who have decided that […]