The “independent” political affiliation only counts when a politician refuses legal bribes. — When the United States Senate convened for the 118th Congress on January 3, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) began the new legislative session as a registered independent. Just days after Sen. Raphael Warnock won the Georgia runoff election against challenger Herschel Walker, securing Democratic control of the U.S. Senate, Sen. Sinema…

It also remains a significant motivating factor for mergers and acquisitions. — There is a very compelling reason why the likes of Messrs. Harrison and Dimon — the former and current CEOs of JPMorgan Chase — would defend the size and scope of big banks; a reason they’d probably never admit to in polite company. What is at stake for them is…

I may risk intemperance — even arrogance — in the effort to convince you of my ability to make you think. — Friedrich Nietzsche, arguably the most iconoclastic philosopher of the 19th century, once titled the chapter of a body of prose he wrote in the book Ecce Homo: “Why I Write Such Excellent Books”. …

You’ll never be free of the wound, but a thriving life is still possible — It’s rather difficult to get worked up over Katya: the Bulgarian expatriate who spoke five languages and physically resembled a love child spawned by Isabella Rossellini and Barbara Feldon. But, as a matter of fact, the breakup brutalized me. The reason why? …

The former Sec. of State Mike Pompeo called American Federation of Teachers’ president, Randi Weingarten, “the most dangerous person in the world,” which is a miniscule fraction of the truth. — Mike Pompeo is most likely planning to run for president in 2024. The topic of his presidential aspirations was broached in a recent interview with Dave Wiegel and Shelby Talcott. Pompeo uttered the kind of bestial braying typical of his political ilk.

The children’s hospital ads haunt our Gmail and YouTube experience two and a half years after we lost our son. — Consider me triggered. Whenever I hop on to my Gmail or YouTube accounts for updates or amusement there’s always an ad for St. Jude’s Hospital featuring some weepy parents of a juvenile cancer patient, singing the praises of the research hospital (always accompanied by dreadfully sappy music).

The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols pretends the 2022 midterm election was a referendum on democracy — the illusion de jour. — In his after-election write up of this week’s midterm voting, Tom Nichols acknowledge U.S. Senate candidate J. D. Vance’s victory in Ohio. He added, “…whose campaign will stand for years to come as a monument to cynicism and hypocrisy.” This isn’t the first time Nichols delivered such a broadside at…

Unaccountable decision makers choose what population to annihilate. — There’s been much talk about the Russia-Ukraine War providing a pretext for the use of nuclear weapons. Without wading into the geo-political intricacies that would prompt such a catastrophic turn of events, the civilian populations of all atomic-armed nations should give this harrowing possibility some serious consideration. As someone who…

No one is looking forward to growing old; especially not watching your friends die off as your age advances. — I am watching my parents age gracefully. While they advance within the range of their “golden years” (late 70s and early 80s, respectively) I’ve begun to notice their siblings and peers dying off. Right now the deaths are merely a trickle of end-of-life-cycle events. …