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 […]
I’m not going to hold my breath until Patrick Lynch, Rhode Island’s Attorney General, declares whether he wants to investigate William McKinney III for sex crimes, but a statement from him is called for. According to a NYTimes article (4/15/10), McKinney’s lawsuit against Brown University, which was just transferred to federal court, rests on whether Brown […]
The word itself does no harm, and it has practical use, especially when talking about health research, as in which group is more likely to get certain diseases. But it also has a function, in the popular culture, of forcing people into a self-examination of their own tastes and appetites, and even their values, as if every one […]
By now, it’s no longer a question of if, but when. At least 20 years ago, I put the likely date as 2020, but, then, I’m no psychic. The point is it’s making less and less sense for the country to be stretched like taffy whenever any significant governmental program is in question. And I’m not talking […]
