Time to Think

Crosses and Detention Centers By Hank Silverberg   A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court this week raises once again a conflict between freedom of speech and freedom of religion. They are both guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but at times can be in conflict with each other. (photo by Hank Silverberg)  The issue was the Bladensburg Cross, a World War One memorial which stands at a key intersection in Maryland, right on the border with Washington, D.C. It was erected by the American Legion in 1925 to honor those who died in the Great War.   I first covered this story when the lawsuit was filed in 2014, and it has taken this long for the case to get to the Supreme Court.  Here is the  version of that original story I did five years ago for WUSA9, in D.C.                                              ...

The Campaign By Hank Silverberg No, this is not another plug for the novel I published in 2017. You can find details on that at the end of this blog. This is about the real-life drama of 2020,   which is already hot 18 months before the election and six months before any primary voting.   I have lost count of just how many people are running for the Democratic nomination. It’s more than two dozen. Next week there will be two debates, a top tier and a lower tier, where most of the Democratic candidates will get a chance to tell us their vision of America’s future. I am not going to predict who will be the winner, and anyone who thinks they can make such a prediction should stay   away from the betting window at the race track, because they are likely to pick the wrong horse. Here are a few things I hope the Democrats will do:                                  ...

The Hidden Threat By Hank Silverberg Much of the focus of environmentalists over the last few years has been on climate change. We’ve seen the science and have been alerted to the danger, though the government, specifically the current administration, has had no response. But there is another environmental problem that is just as bad. Call it the fifth element in our war to save the planet. It lurks in our kitchen, our cars, our workplace and in the food we eat. The invasion began slowly and quietly in the 1950’s and infiltrated all aspects of our lives.  Dustin Hoffman got an early tip in "The Graduate":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dug-G9xVdVs#action=share Plastics are as much a threat to us as carbon dioxide, coal ash or the internal combustion engine. It does not go away. Once it’s produced, a piece of plastic will take about 450 years to disintegrate. That straw you used at the fast food joint last week will still be around for your great-great-great-gre...

The Stuff Memo By Hank Silverberg Take a look around you, in your home or office. How much “stuff”  do you have hanging around that you never use? Now look in the closets and your garage or that shed in the backyard.  The old adage is: if you haven’t used it in three years, you really don’t need it. My family did that a few weeks ago, and this past weekend my daughters came home with their cars loaded with stuff for a big family yard sale. Baby clothes, which my grandchildren have outgrown, were the big sellers.  That's not surprising, since most merchants charge way too much for outfits most babies and toddlers will wear once or twice before they grow out of them.  No one wanted my other daughter’s old CD’s  or the out-of- date but still functional printer I had pulled out from the back of my home office closet.  My wife sold some clothes she no longer wears, but the pile of books we put out, including some best sellers, went almost untou...