“Dismantling,” Conservative Philosophy and the Common Good

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Steve Bannon at the White House is promising (threatening) to “dismantle the administrative state,” primarily referring to our national system of taxation, trade agreements, and regulations. The budget outline that President Trump has submitted appears to support that mission in many ways and shows how the mission might actually go beyond these basics. I believe, in […]

The SPLC’s Latest Report on US Hate Groups

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The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has just released its annual report on hate and extremism in America.  Entitled “Hate groups increase for second consecutive year as Trump electrifies radical right,” it is a “must-read” for all Americans who care about our country. As SPLC noted in the cover memo to supporters, “As Donald Trump’s […]

Stress, Social Justice and Our American Psyche

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How many articles have you read over the years giving advice to help you deal with your daily stress? Five? Ten? Thirty? How much of this advice has actually worked over the long term? What if the daily stress that millions of Americans experience does not result so much from individual decisions and lifestyles but […]

State of Confusion

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Die-hard supporters of Donald Trump and those in his inner circle might not concur, but it’s highly probable that many citizens who follow the news coming out of the Trump Administration, even only a couple of weeks in, might agree that things are confusing! Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) on the Affordable Care Act […]

Advice to Trump from His Own Inauguration

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Our new President, Donald Trump, heard a number of inspiring readings during his Inauguration, as well as at the National Prayer Service the next day. It is hard to read body language, but for most of the time that I watched both events, I got the distinct feeling that he was bored. I hope I’m […]

Preserve the CFPB!

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I have mentioned the great work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the past, but it needs to be highlighted again. It is extremely important to note that this government agency works for you! Here are some of the successes that the CFPB (the brainchild of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren) has had on […]

Voting, Here and There

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Now that we’ve voted… Or at least some of us have voted. Many Americans, once again, stayed home; the latest statistics reveal that only about 52% of eligible voters exercised their right.  (That’s the lowest turnout in two decades – very sad…) Many Americans may have felt intimidated because of the many attempts at voter […]

What’s next?

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What a stunning election result! I guess we will need to wait and see what a Donald Trump presidency will look like, especially if he is backed up by a Republican Congress, but as a person of faith and supporter of Hillary Clinton and other Democrats, I will attempt to remain positive, hopeful, and helpful. […]

The Southern Poverty Law Center on the Alt-Right

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“Alt-right,” a new term that has gained traction in the current election cycle. Short for “alternative right,” it has most recently been especially linked with Donald Trump’s newest campaign CEO, Steve Bannon. Bannon has been chair of Breitbart News, a conservative media group that promotes ideas more extreme than mainstream conservatism. “. . .[W]ith the […]

First Anniversary!

| Future,Past,Present

One year ago, I posted my first blog on WisdomWordsPPF.org! I thought I would provide a review of the topics and topic areas, to give new visitors a feel for what I have been covering and to help sporadic visitors to get caught up. (Note that there are overlaps in the following selections.) Posts on […]