Kumpelcations

  Happy 113th Birthday to President Ronald Reagan.  Due to the addition of various holidays, we no longer recognize February 12 (Lincoln) or February 22 (Washington), but merely recognize the institution on Presidents' Day. This is a shame since we wind up lumping together true titans (Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Reagan), whose accomplishments unquestionably improved our nation, with utter disasters (Buchanan, Johnson, Harding, and....fill in the blanks).  Our country has never been perfect, but we aim to be a more perfect union. When citizens lose their history to demagoguery, false narratives, or revisionist propaganda, the shared values that represent the fabric of our nation unravel in a sea of moral relativism.  Today, reflect on the underlying decency and patriotism of President Reagan, who inherited from Jimmy Carter an unprecedented economic morass (stagflation with persistent double digit annual inflation); a 35-year Cold War with the USSR that had subli...

  In this time of Lent, Christians engage in some form of contrition, penitence, benevolence, and sacrifice to contemplate the heavy burden borne by Jesus as the ultimate act of love and forgiveness for mankind.   Perhaps, at this time, it is worthwhile to further contemplate whether we have received this gift with grace and taken up the corollary responsibility to LOVE our neighbors as ourselves. The Internet and social media have indulged our ingrained desire for immediate gratification.   Likes. Comments. Views. Emojis.   Presumably, these token contrivances serve as virtual fast food to quench our craving for external affirmation.   Unfortunately, these technologies introduce the other side of the coin as well.   Dislikes.   Angry replies.   Inflammatory remarks.   Trolling. Online bullying.   If you seek external validation, you have already given away the power over your attention, your focus, your self-worth, your mood, and your...

I look back at my college years at Cornell with great fondness, particularly as I see the current disruptions that are affecting current and prospective students who are missing the campus and community experience.  Many of the lessons and classes have become fuzzy over the last 30 years, but I distinctly recall a Cornell credo that has stuck with me:  Freedom with Responsibility.   This succinct and powerful guiding principle seems especially apt in this current environment of restricted freedom, limited activity, shutdowns, and social distancing. The founding of our country was triggered by the tyranny of a distant and unresponsive leader, whose unilateral actions affected the cost and availability of essential products, the tax levels of our thirteen colonies, the freedom of expression of our residents, and freedom of assembly.   By our very nature, as Americans, we are driven by an implicit thirst for liberty—broadly defined as freedom from oppressive restricti...

The current state of lockdowns, shutdowns, induced economic coma, and asset price implosion has reminded us that all things—good and bad—ultimately come to an end.  It reminds us that prior generations dealt with inconveniences, fear of the unknown, and shortages of one kind or another.  However, we can be assured that after the storm, the destruction, the losses, and even the deaths come another round of sunshine, rebuilding, favor, and new life.  Because we tend to magnify the dread and depression that persists from times like these, it can be hard to remember the comfort and abundance that we enjoyed just a month or two before. The great Long Islander Harry Chapin poetically captured this cycle of change: “No straight lines make up my life and all my roads have bends.  There’s no clear-cut beginning and, so far, no dead-ends.” In every generation—sometimes in every decade—there are events that seem to threaten ...