The harassment, levied by the IRS against Tea Party groups that were small enough to put up with unwarranted delays and too weak not to vigorously object, if "not necessarily illegal," as the acting IRS commissioner has claimed, represents a horrific abuse of power. That conclusion is a no brainer....

Since the Boston Marathon bombings, there has been a lot of debate about hate and jihad -- whether through Islamic radicals, home-grown militias, or rogue warriors such as the former LA police officer who terrorized his community. But we continue to brush under the rug the random acts of hate...

This week, mildly put, has been challenging: the Boston Marathon bombing; ricin-laced letters; the unexplained explosion in West, Texas; nuclear threats from North Korea; and a noticeable lack of courage and leadership in Congress. During this tragic and difficult week, when Superman turns 75, we need him more than ever....

Last week, in Piscataway, N.J., an 89-year-old Alzheimer's patient who went missing in a wooded area without any protection from the cold was discovered by "Creature," a two-year-old pit bull. Despite a manhunt for the woman, neither the police nor her family were able to find her. Undiscovered, she would...

This past week, with our country mired in the latest version of Washington intrigue and positioning around the impending sequester, I happened to notice a prominent sign at a suburban shopping center. Against a purple background were the words "Code of Conduct," spelling out suitable and civil behaviors for shoppers.

"Do not be a follower of the majority to do evil."
-Exodus 23:2

From the public outrage over the oxymoronic statements of this past election cycle about "legitimate rape" and "violent rape," we learned, thankfully, that most Americans agree that rape of any kind is wrong. However, if you're...

"It's just the way the game is played.
It's best to wait your turn.
Just wait your turn."
-- "Wait Your Turn" by Rihanna

Last week, Americans witnessed the curt and often unremorseful admission by Lance Armstrong to Oprah that he did dope to win his Tours...

"I always wondered why somebody doesn't do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody." - Lily Tomlin

Long before the financial meltdown of 2008, there was a values meltdown in the United States. Most people could sense this but by the time it caught up with us, it...

We must all work to make this world worthy of its children.
- Pablo Casals

A family member of one of the victims in Newtown commented, "Evil has visited this community." In 2012, a year of unprecedented mass killings, it has become apparent that evil does exist. But so...

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses,
And all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again!
- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

During the 2008 election, U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, a conservative Republican...

I recently fell victim to something called "risk management." After a bank mistakenly tried to debit $2,500 instead of $250 for a credit card payment, my bank denied the transaction. Shortly after, because of an emergency hospital stay, I was one day late in making a deposit for another credit...

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of...

We're fast becoming a country where lies are not just more common but are accepted as normal. Through the years, we've become accustomed to a little political sidestep, where politicians don't answer the question asked but instead respond with a totally different and irrelevant answer. But lately this sidestep has...

"Everyday we choose ourselves."
- Dag Hammarskjöld

Back in November, 2011, right after the Jerry Sandusky abuse story broke and before he was put on trial, I wrote about the "bystander effect" that is present in American culture and obscures moral choices. Now that former FBI Director Louis...

"When a man carries a gun all the time the respect he thinks he's getting might really be fear. So I don't carry a gun because I don't want the people of Mayberry to fear a gun. I'd rather they respect me." -- Andy Griffith (as Andy Taylor in The...

"I served my country -- and they just want to take from it -- just take, take! Love it or leave it, that's what I think....some days I think I'd give everything I believe in -- everything I got, all my values, just to have my body back again, just...

Middle-school boys aren't exactly a group known for demonstrating empathy. There are all kinds of potential reasons for that. Peer pressure to be tough. Believing they need to bully or they will be bullied. The portion of the brain that regulates empathy hasn't sufficiently matured.

No excuses. Any way...

We hear too few success stories in education these days. Especially in urban education, where superintendents have engaged in "extreme makeovers" -- firing all the teachers, splitting schools into smaller schools, creating charter schools, and re-formatting schools -- a little-regarded value has gone unnoticed. I call it love.

Eighteen years...

When, in the landmark 2010 Citizens United case, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that corporations have the same rights to self-expression as do people, the Coffee Party objected while the Tea Party celebrated. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney declared in Iowa, "Yes, corporations are people, my friends!"...

"If I was King of the United States, I would make it so that there was no popularity -- everyone would be equal. I am somebody." - Tyler, a teenager who committed suicide, from the movie Bully.

Anyone who sees the movie Bully has to be touched to the core...