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A less religious America will be a less generous America

January 23, 2019  •  The Boston Globe

RELIGION IN THE UNITED STATES is in a slump. Since 1990, the share of Americans who reject any religious affiliation has climbed sharply, from 8 percent to more than 22 percent. Among younger Americans, the trend is especially pronounced. According to the Public Religion Research Institute, 38 percent of Americans under 30 describe themselves as having no religious identity.

If present trends continue, these "nones" will outnumber Catholics by 2020, and will be more numerous than Protestants by 2035.

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As MLK foresaw, racism in America has been largely overcome

January 20, 2019  •  The Boston Globe

"I HAVE NO DESPAIR about the future," wrote the Rev. Martin Luther King in his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" in April 1963. "I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham.... We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom."

He was right.

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In extolling 'honorable' tyrants, Trump shames America

January 16, 2019  •  The Boston Globe

DONALD TRUMP is a compulsive insulter. When faced with any criticism or opposition, he resorts instinctively to taunts and put-downs. His smears and invective are so unremitting that they no longer shock. It's simply a given: If you spar with Trump, you'll be slandered by Trump.

For all that, the president's jeers still sometimes manage to set a new low for indecency.

Last Thursday, taking questions from reporters on the White House lawn, Trump was touting his administration's economic record.

"We have the best job numbers in at least 50 years," he claimed. "The economy is incredible. We're negotiating and having tremendous success with China."

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The PC commissars vs. Bryan Cranston

January 13, 2019  •  The Boston Globe

A memorable TV commercial for Vicks cough syrup in the 1980s opened with soap-opera actor Peter Bergman, known to millions of "All My Children" fans as Dr. Cliff Warner, telling viewers: "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV."

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Is the bike-lane fever breaking?

January 9, 2019  •  The Boston Globe

SEATTLE IS one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the United States — by one reckoning, the most bicycle-friendly. It's also a city in which bike commuting is rapidly losing its appeal. In 2017, according to recent Census Bureau data, a mere 2.8 percent of Seattle's workforce commuted to work by bicycle. That was down from 3.5 percent in 2016, and from 4 percent in 2015. The Seattle Times reports that bike commuting in the Emerald City has fallen to its lowest level in a decade. In raw numbers, the number of people cycling to work in Seattle has plunged from a peak of 16,000 to fewer than 12,000 — a decline of one-fourth.

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