I’ve never been one who enjoyed meetings. I hated staff committees when I was a teacher. When I was in politics, my assistants complained we never had enough time to hammer out strategy. Now that I’m in the retirement center, I avoid meetings with the passion of one threaten
Being either a psychopath or a narcissist is rapidly falling out of favor as a mental illness among psychiatrists. The afflictions, if they are afflictions, are far too common. (See blogs 1/18/13 and 6/16/14.) Psychopaths, for example, thrive as CEO of corporations, politicians an
Milk is not good for us. Meat is not good for us. Cigarettes are not good for us. Sugar is not good for us. Still, like a huge ship in a storm tossed sea, getting human nature to change its course, isn’t easy. In evolution, it may take thousands of years. The question is, do we huma
Ask a member of the Millennial generation to chose between owning a smart phone or a car and, hand’s down, the majority will choose the smart phone. All a person can do with a car is drive, but a smart phone brings the world to your fingertips. At least that’s the view writer
Monday, I walked into the restaurant at my retirement center and ordered a croissant with my lunch. The new girl behind the counter said a croissant didn’t come with the meal. I’d have to pay extra. When she held out her hand for $2.00, I asked if there’d been a change in policy
Not too long ago the European Court of Justice (ECJ) struck down the 15 year-old Safe Harbor Agreement between the European Union and the United States. The decision didn’t make the headlines because it’s a subject that makes a person’s eyes glaze over. Put simply, the c
After World War II, Winston Churchill expressed hope for a united Europe, where movement between borders would be free and where any European in any corner of that society could say, “Here I feel at home.” (“The War for Europe,” by Henry Porter, Vanity Fair, February 2016, p
Like the Marsh Hare from Alice In Wonderland, Extremely Important People (EPI) are wringing their hands and fretting. “There’s nothing to buy. There’s nothing to buy.” That’s because large scale luxury providers have “sanded down” their merchandise and shifted thei
When I served in local politics, I, and some of my predecessors, worked hard to shut down a local nursing home in the eastern corner of the county. It was rickety and posed health hazards for the residents, but it had an antebellum grandeur and its patients, who had lived there ma
As I wrote in a recent blog, one of the big worries in the US stock market is the fallen price of oil. (Blog 1/16/16) The second worry is China, our trading partner. When that nation hiccups, investors here pay attention. At the moment the country poses a two-pronged worry. Firs