From the early 1970’s until his capture in Sudan by the French in 1994, there was no terrorist worldwide feared as much as Carlos the Jackal. He has forever steadfastly remained silent about his exploits and motivations. Until now. With that, I am pleased to announce that I have returned from Paris where Carlos is serving a triple life prison sentence, and over three days last week I took and recorded Carlos’ first in-depth interview ever, with EVERYTHING on the table for discussion.

Today is a somber reminder of the value of life and how quickly it can be taken away by those who seek to destroy the democracy this nation has built, notwithstanding its flaws. Continued condolences to all those families and friends of the innocent victims who lost their loved ones twenty years ago today.

We all correctly correlate the attack against America on September 11, 2001, to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. And in the twenty years since 9/11, thankfully, there have been no attacks on U.S. soil.But the terrorist threat domestically and abroad has never been quashed.It’s still out there and our government works to combat it every day all over the world…

Today is Fathers’ Day and tomorrow is my birthday.

Last night, right before I blew out the candle on a piece of early birthday cake at dinner, I contemplated my birthday wish. What popped into my head was dismay at the contentious state of humanity in America. I’ve often cited in my prior columns Jefferson’s clause from the Declaration of Independence that “All men are created equal,” along with the need for change as to how people of minority status are treated. Of course, it would be naïve to conceive a utopian universe of equality for all; that’s simply not going to happen. Nonetheless, the question of equality has framed me as a person, based on experiences that date back to when I was a child, growing up in Gary, Indiana.