TV shows and Hollywood movies often portray elite government security teams as oafish incompetents around whom brilliantly evil criminals run rapid circles. The plots then center around a cat-and-mouse game played by the evil-doers and the one or two members of law enforcement who can... Continue

Just as global warming gains international traction with treaties, targets and timetables the price of oil miraculously drops. A coincidence? I think not. Just as solar, wind, biofuel and electric technologies become more competitive with high-priced oil and gain wider adoption worldwide the price of... Continue

Sex Porn is a global multi-billion-dollar industry. Studies indicate that for many addicted to such material its sexual content is less significant than its feelings of overcoming powerlessness. The defining characteristic of porn is a sense of control through the objectification of self and other,... Continue

We place a great deal of faith in eyewitness testimony and its impact on criminal justice is enormous. Eyewitness accounts can vary widely, however, as has been the case in the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri by a young police officer. Declining... Continue

A Californian for nearly 50 years I've infrequently traveled by train but I grew up in the suburbs of New York and took the train to Manhattan from time-to-time. My earliest memory of a long train trip was when I was eight years old and... Continue

It would be nice, I suppose, to believe that everything is just fine: the motivations of people are well-intentioned, science and technology always solve every problem, freedom and democracy are humanity's natural state, the world can accommodate an unlimited number of people, and infectious disease... Continue

Setting aside the purely commercial aspects of harvest decorations and TV commercials featuring cute turkeys and cartoon characters in Puritan outfits, Thanksgiving's acknowledgment of earth's bounty and the value of kindness towards others is a welcome departure from our customary year-long celebration of acquiring more... Continue

In the world's economy there are only three types of money, fast, slow and no. Fast money is just that, credit which moves so quickly it requires the use of automated computer algorithms. At its extreme, fast money is circulating the globe, staying in sync... Continue

Try as we may to be blasé - making it the subject of horror movies, detective dramas, novels and so forth - the mystery of death remains humanity's primary conscious and unconscious preoccupation. The heart of philosophy and religion, not to mention Hollywood, "the great... Continue