In the course of his losing race with the teleprompter during his Oval Office address on Dec. 17, President Donald Trump returned to a theme that obsesses him -- respect. Even before his entry into politics, Trump was convinced that "weak" leaders including Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama were ...

As 2025 comes to an end, I want to thank my readers who have emailed me throughout the year with encouraging and kind words. I truly appreciate the thoughtfulness put into every message. Due to my teaching and grading load, I am not able to respond to every email, but I am deeply moved that ...

After Christmas is over, and the sunrises start getting earlier and the sunsets later in the Northern Hemisphere, there are still two months of scarce daylight and lowering skies ahead. Here's a suggestion for how to fill the gloomy hours with uplift: read. Read some great books, returning ...

The limbo period between Christmas Day and Jan. 1 is objectively, the most depressing seven days out of the year. I call it the Post-Christmas Blues. How ironic it is that a holiday that is marketed as being a joyous, and beautiful time sometimes brings the most emotional distress. The ...

The Christmas season is a time to reflect on what we have, which includes the kind of society that has made countless blessings possible. The warmth, security and generosity that many Americans experience during the holidays are not accidents or pure gifts of nature. In their tangible sense, ...

We were at my brother's residence in San Mateo County, just south of San Francisco -- watching the college football playoffs -- when my sister, who lives in San Francisco's Richmond District, where I was planning on spending the night, texted us to let us know that the power was out in her ...