As a babyboomer, I am still in awe at the speed with which normal everyday life has been changed by the internet. Here’s the latest jaw-dropper. This entire transaction took 20 minutes! I had tickets to the NY Philharmonic last night but the Gem Queen, Susan, had a headache. I called the boxoffice (first a […]
Here are some new before-and-after thoughts. I read the obituary of an American named William Niskanen today. I had never heard of him, but I read it because he was intriguingly identified as a “libertarian economist”. I learned that he served in the Council of Economic Advisers under Reagan, and that he was controversial because he […]
Whether you approved of the outcome or not, the conviction and sentencing of Michael Kimelman has a significance that goes beyond the facts of the case. At least for me it does. Kimelman, if you haven’t been keeping up on these things, was convicted of conspiracy and two counts of securities fraud recently. His […]
Drive is a good thriller of its type, and it develops with enough ingenuity that you stay absorbed, even though there is not a chance anything original will come out of it. But that’s why you go to this kind of film; so as not to be surprised. Written and directed by Nicolas Refn, and photographed with […]
Just musing on 2012. 1) It look like Rick Perry won’t cut it. It’s not his gaffes; those never count. It’s because it all seems so familiar and, well, juiceless. Maybe because he waited so long for his big entrance. Sure, he upstaged HER big moment, but why? I’m afraid the answer may be because it’s […]
Trust the NY Times to put its finger on the schism in political thought that divides the country today, especially when it does it by accident. In the 7/19/11 issue, there was a 2-column story on a recent study of discipline in Texas schools. It followed nearly one million students entering the seventh grade through […]
The rest of life must be set aside, to be resumed later. The holding of the Grandson is a Station, a ledge on the Mountain. As an experience, it is isolated in time, a moment to survey the stretch of the journey thus far, and how the way ahead is redirected, inevitably. At nine days, the boy is busy […]
Paul Krugman’s latest semi-rant in the Gray Lady is no different from his earlier ones — except that he grudgingly admits to the “sin” of innocence. He should be faulted, he says, for his innocence of the political realities that keep our economy in this prolonged slump; that maintains a jobless rate near ten percent after more than two […]
More than relief or pride, I feel that this act of justice puts America in position to meet the newest challenge. Our future had not looked promising for young people, whether those born here or coming as immigrants. Those of us fairly settled, like myself, are at least aware of the roads that lead us to nowhere; […]
I first saw this film over 20 years ago. Upon seeing it again, I was struck by how starkly it contrasts with the standard industry product. Just look at how the subjects of GOOD and EVIL are treated in mass entertainment. The most obvious conclusion: Evil sells Big. It seems that audiences love […]
