Politics

August –  Three-year-old McKenzie Elliott sits on a neighbor’s front porch in Baltimore.  She waits excitedly for her stepfather. It is a sweltering day and he will take her swimming. He is late – traffic is bad. A car stops at the corner of 36th St and Old York Road. …

This month, a hotel staffed almost entirely by robots opened in Japan. The robots at the reception desk include a human-like “female” robot that bows and blinks her eyes and a likewise polite English-speaking dinosaur. Robots perform other functions at the Hann’na Hotel (which means “strange hotel” in Japanese) normally …

  The recent decision by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) mandating legalization of same-sex marriage has changed the legal definition of marriage that has existed since well before the nation’s founding. In broadening the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples, the court majority cited the due …

The reaction of the people of Charleston to last week’s mass shooting at the city’s Emanuel AME church, particularly in the faith community, has been nothing short of inspiring.   The killing of 9 worshippers at the church by an apparently deranged white supremacist young man has shocked the city. Predictably, …

The popular adoption of the Internet and cable television as sources of information in the past 30 years has revolutionized the way that the average person receives news. Before the 1980s, the available sources of daily news were limited to newspapers, radio, and broadcast television.   Many small towns had 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 …

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 …

Yesterday’s crash landing of a gyrocopter on the Capitol lawn again exposed security vulnerabilities in the area of the National Mall.  The pilot, identified as Doug Hughes, claims to have flown his craft from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, about 65 miles away.  Upon his arrival in DC, he buzzed the White House and …

Starbucks latest step in it’s effort to remain the hippest fast-food joint on the planet is its “Race Together” campaign, unveiled in Mid-March. Ostensibly designed to help foster an open discussion about racial issues, it has been widely criticized and ridiculed for its plan to have its baristas “voluntarily write …