Most of us are aware of the science experiment where a frog is put in a beaker of water and the flame underneath is gradually increased. It happens so gradually that the frog never jumps out. It boils to its death. That is a good description of America, the frog, in the gradual heated water that is the lack of response to Trump’s terrible behavior. Trump once said that he could kill someone on fifth avenue and no one would arrest him. That should have been the first clue of w

It is very difficult to get a room of articulate high-powered adolescents to agree on much. Hence, in my Ethics class there was a lot of robust conversation about controversial topics. There were just two guidelines, don’t speak when someone else is speaking and no ad hominin accusations where you are attacking the person and not the issue. During one unit in the course, I made the comment that I am sure that all of us in this room set up our decisions to avoid rejection, gu

My Duke Colleagues and Supervisors When I arrived at Berkeley at Yale, one of the first people that I met was a distance runner who was nationally recognized. We became close friends because of similar backgrounds. He was from Harlem and graduated from Wesleyan University. His running partner was Erich Segal who taught the Classics at Yale and was famous for the novel and movie, Love Story.  It is a story of two people who met while in college. The woman played by Ali MacGraw

Mike Sielski, a sport columnist for the Inquirer , wrote an interesting column about the personality of Nick Siriani. He is one of Howie Roseman’s favorite coaches. The sportswriter reflected that the most important part of Siriani’s personality is his greatest weakness as he is often too emotional and impulsive. He grew up in a small town in western New York where his father was a football a coach for nine years at Southwest Central High School. Siriani was an assistant coac

A few days ago I decided to listen to the legal presentation of the issues regarding what is a fair treatment of transgender women in women’s sports during Supreme Court deliberations. I was looking for the ethical arguments as well as the legal arguments regarding this issue. I have already written a blog on the issue of transgender rights and limitations. One of the basic legal/ethical issues that was referred to more than anything else is the Title IX Education Act signed

James “Jay” Lackey Crawford, Jr. Born September 14, 1938 Born to Eternal Life January 3, 2026 Former Head of the Episcopal Academy                        Well-Worn Stories Give me times with well-worn stories, Childhood, work with long-gone glories. Family, friends sitting ‘round to laugh and swap, Hoping that they’ll never stop.   Once in awhile there’s an addition, Fresh, new growth to the tradition. Time will tell if it will stick, Tellers talent does that trick.   Well-wo

First consider Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote in his book, Blink, that seeing a perspective on something where you are making a quick decision is perfected by the art of “thin slicing.” It  is a way to filter out the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables. Gladwell’s book begins with an example that is too common in the news. It is the killing of Amadou Diallo by four New York City Police officers. The officers saw the victim standing in the vesti

Photo of Meredith Rainey in "Movements" by George Balanchine                                Recently Vicki and I attended a Ballet X performance in the theatre at Bryn Mawr College. Before going I was talking with my son in law, Meredith Rainey, about the upcoming ballet as he had seen it the night before. I asked him, “How was it?” He commented on the pieces and indicated that I should look for the movement vocabulary in the various pieces. I told him that improvement vocabu

I am grateful to all of you who have gone to my website. The website has two parts, the blog and an innovative program that I devised called Lever Therapy. I started writing the blog when a friend who reads everything that I write told me I should begin one. I didn’t get around to it. But after reading my books, The Times of my Life , and This Too Shall Pass , he told me that it would help people. I try to apply the same standard to myself that I required of people who asked

One of the many controversial issues coming out of the Trump Administration is the firing of known doctors and scientists who guided our vaccine programs in our nation. After Kennedy indicated in his interview that he would not change vaccine policy, he brought in a group of anti-vaccine professionals who have now changed our vaccine policy in harmful ways that are not supported by scientific data. He has put our nation at risk. For the first time in our history measles are m

One of the great ethical debates has been unfolding before our eyes. It was the bombing of a suspected boat thought to be carrying drugs which was destroyed by our military. First, Trump said he would release the footage taken of the strike including the two men who were killed in a second strike. Were they innocent survivors or was it a war crime? If it was a war crime, then someone should be held accountable. The possibilities are murder, a war crime or an event that was un

If you are a football fan, you know that the sports world is scratching their heads after Notre Dame was passed over for Alabama and Miami in the slot for competing for the football national championship. The explanation is convoluted and beyond what I and others could understand. Notre Dame indicated they wouldn’t play in any bowls. Notre Dame is not a spoiled sport as others have indicated. What everyone is worried about is will other teams do the same thing because money i