The news stories about Korea seem to veer from saber-rattling toward negotiations and back again. Despite the latest agreement on multiparty talks, mutual misperceptions and, on the part of the United States, avoidance of the issue may yet risk an unnecessary war, whose victims will be the civilian
A major theme sounded by the Bush administration before and after the war against Iraq is the right and responsibility of the United States, as the world’s leading democracy, to unseat the forces of tyranny and replace dictatorial regimes with democracies wherever U.S. interests are threatened
Recent ethical and legal scandals in the American church pose a perplexing question. How could intelligent and generally good persons have been sucked into such a mess? The same question arose when the recent business scandals were studied. What has been learned from analyzing business scandals can
A few weeks ago I made a quick stop into my local deli for a small can of tomato sauce, which wound up costing me $105.49. The 49 cents was my actual purchase. The $105, thanks to New York’s Mayor Mike (which rhymes with hike) Bloomberg, was a parking citation. You’ve heard, I&rsq
Certain Uniformity
Among the items in Signs of the Times on Aug. 4 is a notice that the Vatican says flexibility allowed on posture after Communion, even though the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, No. 43, states that all are to remain standing until the end of
The prospects are dark for the world’s refugees and asylum seekers. Ever more stringent security measures in the wake of terrorist attacks have led to higher and higher barriers in countries that once welcomed them. These less-than-welcoming countries, moreover, are among the wealthiest: the U
Turning 70—what a thought! And yet here I am on that very threshold. In fact, though, a friend pointed out to me that having celebrated my 69th birthday, I had already begun my 70th year. Rita’s explanation came as something of a double whammy, like having to deal with reaching 70 twice.