Time to Think

Memorial Day By Hank Silverberg Memorial Day 2019. The United States has been at war in Afghanistan for 18 years. Including the war in neighboring Iraq more than 6,900   members of the American military have been killed, and more than 52,000 have been wounded in this country’s longest war.   But if you ask most Americans what sacrifices they have made during the so called “war on terror,” you will get a quizzical look.   Unless they have served or have   a close friend or relative who has served in the last two decades, they can’t answer the question. Memorial Day began after the Civil War as Decoration Day. Individual communities would place flags or wreaths on the graves of their war dead, mostly in northern states. The first official Decoration Day was in upstate New York on May 5th, 1866. It was in a town ironically called Waterloo, which closed all its offices and stores so residents cold decorate the graves of Union War dead with flowers and...

Roe vs Wade vs USA By Hank Silverberg Abortion! Say the word and you will get a great deal of heated opinion from almost everyone. It is an issue which has divided the country for more than four decades. Even the terminology sparks outrage. Pro-life, Pro-choice, Anti-abortion and sometimes worse ----Pro-abortion or “baby killers.” In this column I am not going to get into terminology, with one exception: “Pro-abortion.” There is noone out there who is “Pro-abortion.” Even women who have had one will tell you it was a tough choice. I am not trying to make lite of this, but no woman goes out there and says “Oh, gee, when I grow up, I’m going to get pregnant and then I am going to have an abortion! It’s a great idea.” It’s a medical procedure that requires thought, preparation and usually counseling by trained medical professionals.   Poll after poll after poll indicates the majority of people in the United States believe a woman should have the right to choose that option ...

The Dismantling of America By Hank Silverberg It has been one of those weeks that makes me worry about the future of the United States as we know it.   I am not trying to be Chicken Little here. The sky is NOT falling yet. But I do see some cracks in our Constitutional protections that are growing bigger and need to be patched in a hurry before the gap becomes too wide to repair.   In Bridgeport, Connecticut this past week, a reporter named Tara O’Neill was arrested while covering a protest. The protest was like many we have seen over the last few years, local citizens outraged over the handling of an officer-involved shooting of a 15-year- old. It's been two years since Jayson Negron was killed.  O’Neill, who works for Hearst Connecticut Media, had been covering the story  since the beginning. She tweeted this out after she was released from custody. Tara O'Neill ‏   @ Tara_ONeill_   May 9 More I was released after being...

Don’t Call Me! By Hank Silverberg Many people have to make a key decision in the next few months. No, not which one of the two dozen Presidential candidates they want to support. That may be easier than choosing what type of Medicare plan they want and whether to buy a supplemental policy to cover things Medicare doesn’t. (If you are under 60, you may want to just skip this part and go to my “News Notes” section below. ) I am far from an expert on Medicare, so don’t look for any advice from me on which plan is best for you.   I’m still learning.   But I am also getting very annoyed. I looked things up on line, but I always want a human being to back up what I have read to make sure I understand it. That is especially true on something like this where my health care is concerned. The folks on the official Medicare phone line were actually very good. I got what I needed in a single phone call. The one thing they made clear is that I should sign up  for Medicare...

Cold Turkey By Hank Silverberg I did it. I stayed away from social media for an entire week! Some of you, or at least those over 50, might not think that’s a big deal, but in today’s world, for someone who has worked in “the media” for 40 years, it is.  The experiment began right after I filed my blog last week. It was inspired after I had a stupid argument on Facebook with an old friend which left him very angry and me very frustrated.   The subject of the argument is irrelevant.   In fact, I am still not sure what we were arguing about.  So, I decided it was time to go cold turkey on social media. For seven whole days I did not read my Facebook newsfeed or post anything. I did not read tweets, retweet or post anything there either, and I avoided LinkedIn too, even though I need it to help evaluate how many people actually read this blog.  I went back to the way it was in the "old days," watching two national news broadcasts (CBS and NBC) and av...

Mulling Over The Mueller Report By Hank Silverberg Wait!  This is not another review over what is and what isn’t in the 400 pages. You have probably read and heard enough about that already, and like me, you may be sick of it. But there are other things to think about concerning this report besides the words.   (Courtesy of  USDOJ) I am troubled by the reaction to it, specifically by members of the Republican Party.            Mueller’s report DID NOT exonerate President Trump. Yes, it said there was no conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russians to manipulate the election. But it also laid out numerous incidents in which Mr. Trump tried to obstruct justice. It apparently was NOT enough for Mr. Mueller to recommend charges against the President. It’s what lawyers would call “enough to convict beyond a reasonable doubt.”                         ...