Monthly Archives: December 2017

Improving Intercultural Understanding

Posted on December 31, 2017 by wcoats

My friend Yael Luttwak, a film maker, undertook a brilliant project in Palestine (now comprising Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip) in 2007 to improve relations between Jewish Israeli and Palestinian women. In her own words she “filmed … Continue reading →

Posted in Discrimination, Palestine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

American Exceptionalism—where has it gone?

Posted on December 26, 2017 by wcoats

Americans are among the most generous people in the world.  World Giving Index – published by the Charities Aid foundation – averages the percent of the population giving money to charities, the percent who have volunteered time for an organization in the past month, … Continue reading →

Posted in Palestine, War | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Wedding Cake

Posted on December 18, 2017 by wcoats

Americans harbor many conflicting views on many subjects. Our right to freely express them is guaranteed in the American Constitution’s First Amendment. It is precisely this right that has enabled the LGBT community to convince an ever-growing number of our … Continue reading →

Posted in Discrimination, News and politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

We will always have terrorists

Posted on December 14, 2017 by wcoats

The cancer of ISIS is metastasizing. As it losses its caliphate in the Levant, it is being reborn here and there across the globe. We will always have it or its successors or something like it, in the same way … Continue reading →

Posted in News and politics, War | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

General Michael Flynn

Posted on December 10, 2017 by wcoats

We all deserve to know whether Donald Trump colluded or cooperated with Putin and Russia in any way to illegally help his presidential campaign. I have full confidence that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation will provide us with the truth … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, News and politics, Ukraine | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What is SALT really about?

Posted on December 7, 2017 by wcoats

Here is the proper way to understand the SALT issue—whether State and Local Taxes should be deducted from taxable income on which federal taxes are levied. Assume that taxpayer 1 (Jack) in state A and taxpayer 2 (Mary) in state … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, taxes | Tagged , , , , , , | 22 Comments