Becoming upset that Zohran Mamdani has been elected Mayor of New York City seems to me to be a waste of emotion. For decades, most economists have agreed that there is really only one world economy, and that is capitalism. Not pure capitalism, but rather economic systems that are based on overriding capitalistic principles. When comparing today’s global economies, it appears that there are no “pure” systems, but rather capitalist systems with lesser or greater touches of soci

When I write a letter to the Tribune, I try to get my facts straight. If I don’t succeed, that’s on me, but facts don’t all come from MSNBC or Pravda. Truth is where you find it, and when you refuse to look at all available data (including that which is intentionally misleading) chances are you’ll miss something. Regarding the 2024 presidential election, the available facts that I have found are these: Donald Trump received 49.97 percent of the popular vote. Kamala Harris rec

First, you may think that Lisa Scottoline has written a YA book. She has not. This book is written from several POVs, and the first fourteen chapters (99 pages) are from 15-year-old teens (Allie, Sasha, David, Julian, and Kyle). Because it’s written in their voice, it’s an easy mistake. The rest of the book is a mix of the teens and their parents (Linda Garvey, Allie’s mother; Daphne Barrow, Sasha’s mother; Bill Hybrinski, David’s father; Scot Browne, Julian’s father and the

I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate those of you who took the opportunity to participate in the No Kings March held on October 18. You were successful, the United States of America does not have a king. Sorry to inform you, but that was settled long, long ago when we declared our independence.  I do respect everyone’s right to participate in the march, it is a right that is guaranteed by the Constitution of The United States. I have to agree that the majority of

I just re-read the long, silly letter by John Bowers, published in the Tribune on October 8. He compares Democrats to dogs who chase sticks. According to Mr. Bowers, the Democrats are “corrupt.” They have “no sense of humor,” (actually, I find this letter pretty funny.) “They have a low IQ,” and they “tried to kill Trump twice.” They have “no experience with intelligence.” He repeats some of Trump’s insulting playground names for his opponents, and so on with more ridiculous

A new report by a Virginia-based company suggests that bird droppings on your car may not be as random as you might believe. The report is based on survey results and ornithological research. Writing for the Gizmodo Newsletter, Gayoung Lee states that the report’s conclusions “reveal a mix of expected yet surprising insights into the relationship between avian bowel activity and vehicle appearance.”  The “Bird Dropping Report” was published by Alan’s Factory Outlet and it con

Harlan Coben is a best-selling author whose previous novel, The Stranger, has been the basis for a Netflix series.According to the cover of The Woods (2007, 404 pages in both hardback and softback), this work, too, is coming to Netflix.Coben’s novels have been translated into 45 languages and he’s sold more than 75 million copies of his mystery/thrillers worldwide.He’s on the short list of my favorite contemporary authors. In The Woods, Paul Copeland, prosecutor for the Distr

Our national government and corporate titans rob the poor to feed the rich. We vote for politicians who fail us. Working-class Americans feel left behind.  We struggle to recover from a worldwide pandemic that killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, shuttered small businesses, and divided communities with anger and distrust. Small men threaten war. Gun violence headlines our newspapers. Racism infects hearts and minds. Snake oil salesmen take advantage of religious believe