Justice

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Antithesis

ANTITHESIS

A week ago, people around the world were able to see a fifty-year-old man in blue sportscoat gunned down on the sidewalk of New York City by a hooded assassin standing in the shadows only several yards behind him.  The video was in high demand. All most people saw was the grim reaper point his gun.  They did not see the puff of smoke from the gun.  They did not see the intended victim fall to the sidewalk.  They did not see the assassin...

Apartheid by any other name

APARTHEID BY ANY OTHER NAME

The term Apartheid was first used in 1948 in South Africa to describe a separate, if not equal, segregation of the races, including these four categories: Whites, Bantu (black African), Mixed races and Asian.  The term was a new compound of words from different languages.  The first segment of the word (“apart”) is clear enough in its meaning.  It refers to some sort of collection “by itself, away from others.”  From the word “hood” which refers to “head,” “manner,” “state” or “condition,” we get the “heid.” The Whites...

Conair

CONAIR

The U.S. Marshall’s Service has a fleet of several Boeing 737 aircraft to fly people in legal custody to prison, to another state, or to court or detention centers, wherever official business requires them to fly.  Illegal aliens in custody are also passengers on these aircraft.  The term for this operation is the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS), though informally it is known as Conair (for Convict Air.) More than a quarter of a million transfers take place each year.  Conair was also the...

Folie à deux

Folie à deux

At the moment, my mind is racing.  As I get older (and I’m on the upside of 75), it becomes more of a challenge to organize one’s thinking and write academically, and this post will be particularly difficult because it involves a comparison and contrast between two nations in two different time periods, a discussion of an unusual form of mental illness (Folie à deux), and a movie review.  About the only thing missing here is my mother’s recipe for Sauerbraten, though I’ll include it...

What Would Jesus Do?

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

These are difficult times for our nation, for many reasons.  We know this from public opinion polling, from the lyrics of recent country music songs, from the angst, anger and confusion in people’s eyes.  We know this from the several civil and criminal indictments that have been filed against the previous president. We are inudated with choices, but what would Jesus do? In the worst of times, people will sometimes, perhaps wisely challenge their assumptions.  “What went wrong” they may ask?  People, patriots all...

COSETTE

COSETTE

Meet Cosette. She is a homeless, hungry waif. Perhaps she is from El Salvador and currently waiting for an opportunity to cross the U.S.-Mexican border illegally (unless she or her family can receive bona fide immigration papers.) Or, maybe she’s Syrian, living in Turkey, and hoping for a boat to Greece. Regardless of her point of origin, she’s likely not welcome at her destination. In Europe, she may spend the winter in a refugee camp with only a tent over...

Dog with guilty conscience

JAMES MADISON ON CONSCIENCE

“The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed.” – James Madison Introduction Our democracy and our republican form of government is based on the U.S. Constitution.  But there are differences of opinion today in how the Constitution should be interpreted and applied in our society, and what the proper...

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