Bill Clinton referred to himself as “The Comeback Kid” during the 1992 campaign, when his moribund candidacy was revived in the state of New Hampshire. Now Clinton might be poised to quite literally come back—to the White House, that is, … Continue reading →
It’s become common wisdom to say one of the many huge mistakes of the postwar era in Iraq was to disband the army. But it’s always puzzled me that so many people seem to think it’s a self-evident truth. I’ve … Continue reading →
Well, of course. Scientists have discovered that certain people can eat anything and everything and not gain an ounce. Well, duh. I could have told them that years ago. In the early 70s I was blessed with three roommates of … Continue reading →
In a recent Atlantic article by Robert Kaplan entitled “Rereading Vietnam,” the author discusses a number of books that have been given little press and short shrift by reviewers. These are histories and memoirs written by men who served in … Continue reading →
I’ve written at some length about the France2 trial and the fact that the al Durah tapes have never been released (if interested, see my posts on the subject from October 24 to Oct 30, 2006). Here’s a petition the … Continue reading →
Remember those tests of perception known as figure/ground drawings? As a child I was fascinated by their magical “now you see it, now you see something else” mutability. Here are two of the most popular—the vase/profiles one and the young … Continue reading →
…no. But it may have peaked and even be on the decline—for the moment. This Newsweek article on the subject reads as though it were written by a committee—and, as it turns out, perhaps it was. No less than seven … Continue reading →
This seems encouraging: Germany’s largest synagogue—one that somehow managed to survive both WWII and the Soviet-contolled aftermath in East Berlin—was restored and reopened in a moving ceremony on Friday that featured, among the thousand people who gathered to celebrate, elderly … Continue reading →
Actually, it was early in the morning. The night before the closing I was up till 6:30 AM doing all the last-minute clearing away of the detritus of my life, getting things ready for the walk-through at 8:30 AM. I … Continue reading →
A while back I wrote about my plans to move. I put my house on the market in late spring, thinking—the current housing market being what it is (I seem to specialize in buying in a seller’s market and selling … Continue reading →
The rather Byzantine story of Senator Larry Craig of Idaho, who was arrested for lewd behavior in a Minnesota airport restroom staked out by an undercover cop in a sting operation, and who copped a plea for disorderly conduct instead, … Continue reading →
To continue with the theme of the last few days, this article that appeared in The American Prospect back in February is edifying in describing exactly how an increasingly antiwar Congress pressured Nixon back in the late 60s and early-to-mid-70s … Continue reading →