Author: Thomas Purcell

Boy, was I dumb to pay back my college loans. That is the conclusion of writer Lee Siegel, who explained in a New York Times op-ed why he never paid back his. Siegel’s parents had limited means, you see, so, at 17, he borrowed to go to a pricey private school for two years. When […]

I was swapping dad stories with a friend and laughing hard. Then my friend got quiet and said something that hit me hard. “God, I wish my father was still alive.” I’m one of the luckiest sons on earth because my dad is healthy, and I pray he stays so for a good long while. […]

“ObamaCare is being challenged at the Supreme Court again? What now?” “Ah, yes, you speak of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which the then-Democrat-controlled Congress passed on a party-line vote back in 2009. It’s been the subject of lots of confusion and lawsuits ever since.” “I thought the Supreme Court ruled on ObamaCare […]

Get this: Conservatives give better graduation speeches than their more liberal-minded counterparts. After reviewing two commencement-speech anthologies – “The World is Waiting For You,” which features 18 speeches by liberals, and “Remembering Who We Are,” which showcases 30 conservative speeches – Washington Post blogger and book critic Carlos Lozada gives five reasons why conservatives do […]

I don’t know why everyone is so up in arms that alleged newsman George Stephanopoulos donated $75,000 to a private foundation co-owned and operated by a woman who hopes to be president. Georgie has been a partisan pit-chihuahua his entire career. The little guy cut his teeth managing “bimbo eruptions” when Bill Clinton was running […]

It was the most moving Memorial Day ceremony I’ve ever attended. The event took place at the ACLD Tillotson School in Pittsburgh, a special-needs school with a private academic license approved yearly by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The brain is a complicated thing, you see. Even the slightest deviation in normal brain function can […]

Proms sure have gotten expensive these days. Sure, prom spending is down 6 percent over last year, according to a nationwide Visa survey, but the average American household will still spend $919 on the prom this year. That got me thinking about my own prom in 1980. I didn’t know my date very well. She […]

Welcome to class, American millennials. Sit down and take notes – because you are in for a rude awakening. According to a report by the Educational Testing Service, you have “weak skills in literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments” when compared to your international peers. Based on data from the Programme for the […]

I handed my debit card to the owner of a barbecue restaurant. He saw my name on the card. “Is your mother’s name Elizabeth?” he asked. When I nodded, he burst out laughing. And then proceeded to confess to a prank, motivated by my mother, that he’d pulled on my family 30 years ago. My […]

I didn’t know it when I was young, but I was one of the luckiest young men on the planet. I had a father who loved me and imposed his will on me. Fathers were not considered buffoons when I was a young boy in the 1970s. They were not portrayed as they are now […]

Legal rights for animals? Not so fast. A few weeks ago, says the New York Post, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Barbara Jaffe “inadvertently bestowed human status on two chimpanzees being used for biomedical research at Stony Brook University on Long Island.” The chimps, Hercules and Leo, were granted habeas corpus – a legal action through […]

After I read the news report, I popped the wine cork and praised the science gods. Alcohol consumption helps us live longer. A new study, published in the journal “Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research” found that teetotalers are more likely to croak sooner than regular drinkers. If you don’t understand what a massive turn of […]

I stumbled upon my father’s 1959 income tax return a few years ago. Oh, how I long for the simplicity he enjoyed when he filed his taxes that year. For 1959, my father paid a measly 5 percent in federal taxes, even though his name wasn’t Rockefeller. How did he do it? It was easy. […]

My sisters and I were saddened when my parents sold the old house. It was a two-story, four-bedroom design that was typical of 1960s suburbia – a house designed to raise children. The bottom half of the exterior was brick; the top half, white aluminum siding. Inside, the rooms were efficient and comfortable. Eventually, my […]

Ah, springtime has finally arrived in Washington, D.C. The National Cherry Blossom Festival is beginning. The cherry trees, 3,700 of them given to America by the Japanese in 1912, will soon be in full bloom. It reminds me why Americans are so wary of Washington. In the spring of 1999, you see, some culprits had […]

The old grocery store in my neighborhood is closing next month. Boy, does that make me sad. The family-owned store has been a staple in our community for more than 50 years. Its simple, spartan interior is a snapshot into the past, the way grocery stores were in the ’60s and ’70s – like the […]

St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are getting a wee bit out of hand. St. Patrick’s Day occurs every year on March 17, the date when St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, died in 461 A.D. According to The History Channel, St. Patrick was born in Britain in 385 A.D. to a well-to-do family. Captured by […]

“All right, tubby, if you aren’t going to stop sitting in front of the TV, eating fatty and sugary treats, maybe the government should force you to change your ways.” “Force me to change my ways? But I know what foods do and don’t make me tubby. I choose to live this way.” “Yeah, and […]

Get this: The federal government is trying to explain things to citizens in plain English. In 2010, you see, President Obama signed the Plain Writing Act into law. It requires that all federal agencies use “clear government communication that the public can understand and use.” In 2011, Obama took the plain-language initiative a step further. […]

I admit it: I love the snow and the cold. I love to be outside, gazing up at the stars on cold, crisp evenings. I love how the snow blankets my hillsides. And most of all, I love how snow disrupts daily life – particularly in Washington, D.C. I lived in Washington for nearly eight […]

“Boy, here’s something we could use more of today: unity among the American people. Americans are so divided.” “Maybe so, but we’ve been divided worse before.” “We were?” “Watch the History Channel series ‘Sons of Liberty.’ It dramatizes the heated arguments that took place among Colonial leaders, who had a lot to lose by declaring […]

Ah, the middle of February. We all know what that means: Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue has arrived. That means that some folks, such as those in the American Decency Association (ADA), will voice concerns about exploitation of women. “Sports Illustrated DISRESPECTS women by displaying demeaning stereotypes of female sexuality,” says the ADA’s website. “The swimsuit […]

With Valentine’s Day upon us, female readers are again pummeling me with questions on how to woo the modern male. Dear Tom: I am as particular about the body washes, vitamin-enriched lotions and shower gels as any lady, but my boyfriend has taken such concerns to ridiculous levels. He has dozens of bottles in his […]

Women have long been annoyed that they do more housework than men, as demonstrated by many studies, but now they are really steamed. Last December, The New York Times reported on a regrettable trend. The number of men between the ages of 25 and 54 who are unemployed is at all-time high: 16 of every […]

Every Feb. 2, Punxsutawney Phil, a groundhog, is pulled from a tree stump in Punxsutawney, PA. If he sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, spring is just ahead. In a 2010 interview, I asked Phil about a request made by the People for the Ethical Treatment of […]

Young Americans continue to put off homeownership, and that isn’t good for anyone. According to USA Today, homeownership for Americans age 35 and under declined to 36.2 percent in the first quarter of 2014, down from 36.8 percent in 2013. The percentage is the lowest on record since the U.S. Census began tabulating home ownership […]

Boy, does the world need a better sense of humor right about now. Humor, says Merriam-Webster, is “the ability to be funny or to be amused by things that are funny.” Humans are at their best when they are amused. Few things can better reduce stress or shed light on truth than a good joke. […]

Ah, winter has arrived in all its glory, which means one thing: more sledding bans! According to The Associated Press, Dubuque, Iowa, has banned sledding at 48 of its 50 municipal parks. The reason: costly lawsuits. In one case, a 5-year-old girl in Omaha, Neb., hit a tree while sledding and became paralyzed. In another […]

I received an unexpected postcard in the mail the other day from an old friend. It made my day. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten a handwritten letter from a friend — it has to be 10 or 15 years. What’s worse, I can’t remember the last time I wrote one. The reasons […]

Pope Francis recently praised the benefits of big families – that a big family teaches children selflessness and sharing, which benefits the whole of society – and I couldn’t agree more. I was raised as an only boy with five sisters, which was at once a blessing and a curse. When I was 12, the […]