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It has been a challenging week for Rachel Dolezal, president of the Spokane, Washington chapter of the NAACP.  Dolezal, who has long passed herself off as black or mixed-race, was revealed by her parents to be of Czech and German ancestry with a dash of Native American.  They provided a …

Want to know who will win the 2016 presidential election? It may be useful to look at recent electoral history for clues. Here are 5 tendencies that may suggest a certain outcome: 1. After one party has two consecutive terms in the White House, the following election almost always goes …

Like many large cities, Baltimore’s unemployment rate shot up in the wake of the financial crisis in 2008, peaking at 12% in 2010. The 2010 federal census showed a population loss of about 5% since 2000, continuing a trend that started in the 1960s. Fact 1: In order to counter …

The Myths  1. The rally at Baltimore City Hall on Saturday was peaceful Local and national politicians and media waxed poetic about how beautiful and peaceful was this exercise of the right to demonstrate. I attended the rally, and the rhetoric from the podium was a mix of calls to …

First, let me start by reiterating that we don’t cover celebrity gossip at ThoughtWidget; nor do we engage in celebrity worship. However, the revelations about actor Ben Affleck’s slave-holding ancestor are a multi-faceted commentary on politics and the news media. It was revealed this week that Affleck asked Henry Louis …

Iran will continue its program to develop nuclear weapons because its leaders are convinced it is in their interest.   At the very least, nukes will give the Islamic Republic a level of security it has not had during the 36-year standoff with its two primary antagonists: the United States and …

…if you want to be taken seriously. The words you choose will determine how others evaluate your intellect. It matters in almost any interaction you have outside of a close personal relationship. This includes your workplace and any interaction with someone you don’t know well. I’m not going to address …

The telling of personal stories has been an important aspect of human communication since before the development of complex language. Sharing one’s experiences is an integral part of personal relationships. It is typically one the first subjects that friends or acquaintances discuss when meeting (“How are you? What have you …