TL;DR Some SCOTUS justices recently bemoaned the fact that the public views them as “partisan hacks” (in Justice Barrett’s words) and have rejected that view. Unfortunately for these SCOTUS justices, the data backs up the public’s view, not theirs. The context For example, here is an article explaining Justice Barrett’s position: Justice Amy Coney Barrett says Supreme Court is 'not a bunch of partisan hacks' Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Sunday rejected claims that decisions by the high court are driven by…www.cnn.com

Or, How not following the science has caused unnecessary loss of life in Republican states The title is a bit flippant, but seems like an apt description of the findings on the effects of masking and vaccination on Covid-19 death rates at the national level. This all started when I…

I recently attended the funeral service for a friend who passed away. Below are some thoughts I had while contemplating where we all fit in the grand scheme of things. We are like waves crashing on the shore. …

It’s become increasingly clear that there are two unbridgeable sides in the US, each with their own version of reality. …

Imagine you move in with two roommates you hadn’t met before. You don’t know each other, so you all introduce yourselves and start going about your lives. Within a couple of days you discover that one of the roommates is a huge slob. He’s leaving his dirty underwear in the…

On the one hand: We now have secret laws, with secret interpretations, by secret courts. There is massive surveillance of everyday activities of all US citizens. All Internet activity and phone conversations are monitored. Some recent revelations approach the farcical: “Who Are We at War With? That’s Classified”. Taken at…

One day, when my daughter was seven years old, we were looking at some old pictures and there was a picture with “Santa” visiting some gathering of children. I said “Oh, there’s Santa”. She said “No, that’s just Bob (a family friend) dressed up as Santa”. …

A few years ago, I was landing in San Diego for a couple days’ visit. As my plane was touching down, I thought that I could have called my friend Mike* to pick me up from the airport. That would have allowed us to catch up, since we hadn’t seen…

Yesterday I saw a truck with two incongruous elements: a big cross on the left and a huge National Rifle Association sticker on the right. …