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By JON HUER

In 1814, Napoleon escaped from the island of Alba where he had been exiled after the disastrous Russian campaign. The newspapers in Paris reported: “Devil escapes from Alba.” Upon the news of his escape, many former French soldiers joined him in his...

By JON HUER

On Oct. 14, in Oaks, Pennsylvania, Donald Trump’s campaign was interrupted twice by medical emergencies in the crowd, and then Trump did a strange thing: He stopped his town hall Q&A and requested Schubert’s “Ave Maria” (“Hail Mary” in Latin) to be...

By JON HUER

In the last six presidential elections, the contests were so close that less than a 3% shift in the voters would have changed the outcome. In the November election, nobody expects a landslide.Why? It’s the very logic of a perfectly open democratic...

By JON HUER

Melania Trump, our former first lady, has written a book about herself, and some commentaries came along about her past career, which included posing nude for men’s magazines.I saw her nude photos years ago and, other than that they belong to our...

By JON HUER

During the recent presidential debate, Donald Trump held Kamala Harris responsible (as he did Joe Biden during the June 27 debate) for the tragedy of 13 soldiers dead in the hasty U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.Morning came and so did Sept. 11, and...

By JON HUER

During the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, President Joe Biden was making his farewell speech. In part, he said, “Years ago everybody was talking about how China would overtake America as the world’s superpower, but today, nobody talks...

By JON HUER

Quite reminiscent of “Hitler worship” among Germans, peaking after he easily conquered France, America’s own “Trump worship” among his followers has been noticed by Trump watchers. This phenomenon seemed to have peaked at the GOP convention in...

By JON HUER

During the early part of the Roman Empire, triumphant rulers and heroes had an accompanying slave whose job it was to whisper “Memento mori” (“Remember mortality”) to the great men of the hour. In ancient Korea, kings appointed the realm’s most...

By JON HUER

There is a Chinese phrase “jintui-liangnan,” which means you are caught in a situation from which you can go neither forward nor backward. The phrase is an apt reference to the dilemma of the American republic which faces trouble either way: If we go...

By JON HUER

During the last three generations, the focus of our consumption changed from primarily material things for comfort (like shoes and cars) to predominantly “mental” events for pleasure (such as entertainment like TV, internet, social media). So did our...

By JON HUER

As a lifetime observer of American society and history, just now I am witnessing an astonishing historical event no human being has ever seen before: a nation voluntarily abandoning its democracy to welcome autocracy (very possibly fascism). On our...

By JON HUER

Whenever you are in the downtown area of Greenfield, it’s hard not to notice the usual downtown vagrants, mostly homeless and jobless. In our era of maximum consumption of comfort and pleasure, these people stand out conspicuously as the underclass of...

By JON HUER

Facing our choice of president in November, most American voters will cast their ballots for the candidate their hearts choose.Although it is an ostensibly “public” event — picking our nation’s chief administrator — neither the “nation” nor...

By JON HUER

It is universally agreed that we as humans are better off than dogs in America, in intelligence, dignity, health, etc. Two crucial facts contradict this notion. So, let’s get to these facts:FACT ONE: New York’s rich hotel heiress Leona Hemsley,...

By JON HUER

Democrats have been unhappy with the constitutional quirks that favor rural America, in which the GOP minority often outmaneuvers the Democratic majority. Three of the last four Republican presidential candidates won elections without winning the...

By JON HUER

My wife, who is my severest critic, says I think like a 10-year old, which I interpret as a compliment. True, I tend to be simple-minded and linear as a 10-year-old child would be. After nearly half a century of working as a sociologist, writing a...

By JON HUER

It’s uncommon for us to think that doctors, who help us out of trouble, could be in trouble themselves. Yes, they could be and, now behind the facade of prosperity and authority, they are in deep trouble. But, when doctors themselves are in trouble as...

By JON HUER

Putin rattles his nuclear saber again: The Associated Press reports, “Putin says Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons” [Recorder, March 14]. He has been making such threats for the past two years, especially against the possibility of the U.S. or...

By JON HUER

Three news events managed to grab my attention on March 1:Event One: Alexei Navalny was buried in Moscow. The most prominent political enemy and critic of President Vladimir Putin, he mysteriously died at a penal camp while serving his trumped-up...

By JON HUER

During the holidays, we hear much about giving. A strange thing about giving: We commoners simply “give,” but if a rich man does, it’s called “philanthropy,” literally “love of humanity.” It sounds noble and mysterious, but what really is...

By JON HUER

During this past Christmas, our son, who is an artificial intelligence expert for a Fortune 500 company, spent a week with us and convinced us that artificial intelligence’s involvement in our daily lives in America is much more extensive than...