Let me tell you about the time that I was a useful idiot. I can think of more than one example, but this one will suffice. I share it to show how, while useful idiots can inflict terrible harm, the term itself is not necessarily an indictment of IQ or character. We’ve all been there—or
Useful Idiots – Lite Read More »
“Do as I say, not as I do,” is a disastrous parenting mantra. Covid-era politicians tried the same game when they partied with friends (without masks) while threatening to arrest us for doing the same. So, it is with more than a grain of humility that although I have done so, I entreat my fellow
One More Election Season Read More »
I’ve been housecleaning today. Not my house, but the small, plastic birdhouse outside our bedroom window. Its owners abandoned it last week shortly after the newest fledgling took wing. Last year, our resident mourning doves generated much drama. My husband and I emotionally invested in their well-being to a ridiculous extent. Over the winter months,
Putting One Little House in Order Read More »
Imagine not being recognized while visiting a parent with dementia. The hearts of those hearing of such a picture will fill with compassion and empathy. Losing one’s memory is a fear that grips most people beyond their twenties, transforming the overcrowded mind’s inability to remember where you left your keys into a panic-stricken moment. Smells.
Losing the War on (deleted) Read More »
Juries are under scrutiny as happens whenever a high-profile case is in the news. Does the system resemble what the Founders intended as they prescribed in the Sixth Amendment, “the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury,” or has the system turned upside down? Jurists, of course,
A Jury of Your Peers? Read More »
Americans seem to have a strange relationship with business. We extol Mom and Pop stores, love stories of individuals who have an idea and turn it into a reality and treasure the idea of entrepreneurship. However, when an enterprise gets too successful, we decry it as we patronize it. Starbucks is successful because people get
Small Big Business – the American Way Read More »
Think of a spectrum line anchored at one end by the word Cynical and at the other by the word Gullible. Tend too much to one extreme and you won’t be able to form healthy relationships, be they personal, business, or communal. Tilt too much to the other end and you risk losing your time,
Cynical or Gullible? Read More »
I cried when Charlie Kirk was assassinated. I did not watch the video clip showing his murder. The pogroms of October 7, 2023, personally affected me. I self-monitor the times when I listen to or read accounts of that agonizing day. I avoid sensational news stories that used to be the headlines on magazines and
Wednesday, August 12. I set aside time to write my Musing today, but instead I will explain why I am not writing the one I thought I would. The story begins when my husband and I visited a discount store in Vancouver, British Columbia, last week. As is common in such stores, the line where
The non-Musing Musing Read More »
While Susan is taking a few weeks break from writing new Susan’s Musings posts, we are pleased to bring you one of her past favorites (originally published in 2018). Enjoy! A few years ago, my husband and I answered an ‘Ask the Rabbi’ question about whether deciding not to have children was acceptable. I was
