Africa is a beautiful place, they say. The cradle of humankind, mecca for animal lovers, exotic and wild, with spectacular scenery. Ridden with disease, violence, poverty, and corruption. There’s no dearth of possible culprits to blame: bad luck, bad climate, … Continue reading →
…Lois Lerner.
Continue reading →There were two institutions that commanded towering respect and trust—amounting almost to reverence—in my youth: NASA and the Secret Service. NASA lost its good reputation almost three decades ago, with the Challenger disaster and the agency’s bad decisions that were … Continue reading →
Peggy Noonan thinks Obama’s problem is bad judgment: Mr. Obama can see the trees, name their genus and species, judge their age and describe their color. He absorbs data. But he consistently misses the shape, size and density of the … Continue reading →
Testifying twins? Neither the same personality nor the same m.o., however:
Continue reading →Sophia Loren turns 80 today. Here are some then and now photos to feast on. Loren is one of my most favorite actresses, and I’ve written about her on this blog several times before. She’s been blessed with beauty, brains, … Continue reading →
The WaPo has been reporting on the fact that Obama and his generals are at odds over the conduct of the operation against ISIS. The conflict seems to be heating up (the war against the generals, that is, not the … Continue reading →
Trying to smoke out the ebola victims who might be reluctant to go to medical authorities, Sierra Leone has instituted a nationwide 3-day lockdown: In a desperate effort to bring the outbreak under control, thousands of health care workers began … Continue reading →
…who is resigning. That makes sense. But Mr. Salmond seemed to suggest that the campaign for a sovereign Scotland was far from over. “The position is this: We lost the referendum vote, but can still carry the political initiative,” he … Continue reading →
…for Scotland and Great Britain. The financial markets, which don’t like chaos and change, are happy. David Cameron, who agreed two years ago to the vote and then watched the gap close ominously, is relieved. The crucial factor was turnout: … Continue reading →
[NOTE: I wrote this draft a while back, but never published it. I’m in the mood for some lighter fare today; maybe you are too? So here we go—can’t get much lighter than this.] The Emmys were on TV the … Continue reading →
The fact that 16-year-olds are voting in today’s Scotland referendum was news to me, and I think of sufficient interest to warrant a post of its own. I was surprised, but shouldn’t have been. It’s a logical extension of trends … Continue reading →