In Wikipedia, the game “Telephone” is defined as a game where all the players stand in line and the first player whispers a phrase or sentence to the next player. That player then whispers what he or she heard to the next player, and so on. At the end, the last player announces the statement […]
This is not a researched submission. I’m only reacting to the recent flood of hysterical proselytizing by “experts” over America’s imminent collapse because of the crisis in education. It seems that half of the coverage predicts total third-world status for us because we’ll never catch up to those Asian superkids who outperform us at every turn. But […]
Although the exact year it gets to the Supreme Court may be different, you can be sure that history is marching all of us to that case, and I’m surprised we haven’t gotten there already. Of course, history has a tendency to send mixed signals, and I may get caught with my pants down about this […]
The billionaire Warren Buffett wrote an opinion piece for the NYTimes Op-Ed this week, and it was a jaw-dropper. Basically, he was just thanking “Uncle Sam” for coming through on the financial crisis, which averted disaster. Now we have calmer seas in these still-troubled waters, but at least the Ship is finding its safe course, […]
Before a half hour of this film was over, I was struck by something that had nothing to do with the story, which was totally involving on its own terms. I thought — “How do they do it? How do the British keep coming up with these child actors who are already more poised, […]
There seems to be a lot of attention paid to the nation’s education system at this time, mostly in the negative. The general message seems to be that the schools are failing all of us, and that the United States will diminish as a world power because of it. But at the same […]
It’s harder for an older person like myself, but it’s not ever easy for anybody. But it is necessary in today’s world to re-shape your life if you’re looking for a successful career. That means cutting back, or discarding, actually, some of the things you really like to do but which take too much […]
Todd Solondz is back. True, only a small “k”(ing), but with a big “P”(ain), he’s returned to his small domain where he records the eruptions of despair in today’s America with lacerating effect. Not for him the betrayals and wars of (right or left wing) politics. He brings it all down to the […]
This seems to be the season for everyone to join in giving an opinion about who is to blame for the economy, who has the right answers now, which party is taking the economy in the “right direction” and so on. That’s OK, but maybe we’re losing sight of something just as important. Why not […]
I think it’s time I tried to explain my political philosophy, since I’ve been ranting this long without ever doing it before. Provided, of course, that I even have a coherent political philosophy. I’ll begin by talking about one part of it, namely my basic trust in the individual’s knowledge of his or her own […]
