I’m going home today. According to the Amtrak website, my train is sold out. That should be…interesting. And, as luck would have it, this appears in today’s NY Times, entitled “Acela, built to be rail’s savior, bedevils Amtrak at every … Continue reading →
Even though I was a good student, economics was my nemesis. I passed it, but it was a slow slogging grind, and it didn’t quite stick. And, although I’ve made an effort to learn more about economics since then, every … Continue reading →
I’ve been visiting New York City, the place where I grew up. I decide to take a walk to the Promenade in Brooklyn Heights, never having been there before. When you approach the promenade you can’t really see what’s in … Continue reading →
[Previous posts in the series: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Interlude Part 4A] There were two widely-circulated and iconographic photographs taken during the Vietnam War. If you were around then, I can almost guarantee that you saw them, and … Continue reading →
(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Interlude) PREFACE Part 4 has been a long time coming. The article itself is long, too–so long that I finally decided it would be best to divide it into segments, so readers might have … Continue reading →
The MSN headline did what it’s supposed to do–it certainly caught my eye: “Escapee elephants visit Seoul restaurant.” The article has a few wonderful details. There were six elephants in all; one elephant bolted during their daily parade outside a … Continue reading →
Just in–a new pope has been elected. He’s Benedict XVI (formerly Cardinal Ratzinger from Germany), considered a hard-line conservative. I think it’s interesting, in light of my previous post about cardinals over 80 not being allowed to vote for pope, … Continue reading →
I’m here in New York, with the unbelievably lovely weather and the daffodils all in bloom. It feels like the tropics to me. Big celebration tonight for a major birthday of my brother–which one? I’ll never tell. But last night … Continue reading →
George Orwell was certainly one for the pithy saying with a lot of punch, short and to the point. I came across a web page specializing in Orwelliana, and was struck by the number of comments that seemed to be … Continue reading →
Viewed at Roger Simon’s–the following headstone seems to have inspired me to poetry. Please forgive me; I must obey my muse. Technology gallops apace, Computers, hybrids, men in space. So, now there’s a headstone That’s shaped like a cellphone To … Continue reading →
What’s wrong with this picture (anti-Japan protests in China, via the NY Times)? It still seems strange to see mass protests in China at all, post-Tiananmen–even ones such as this, apparently organized by the government for its own murky purposes. … Continue reading →
There are few things more satisfying than finding something thought to be irretrievably lost. In my own life, this usually ends up being something as mundane as an earring or a glove. I seem to specialize in losing a singleton … Continue reading →