A friend and I were debating a story we’d heard on the news about an 80-year-old woman with a PhD who for decades taught as an adjunct at a university. Recently she lost her job and died in poverty, her body committed to a cardboard box. As adjuncts comprise 50-70% of college workfo

“A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs,” Mark Twain once observed. (Following the Equator) He’s right, of course. Who doesn’t desire a little luxury in life? Still, some carry their aspirations too far. Kim Kardashan and her fiancé rece

Like others, I’ve taken my swipes at Goldman Sachs. (Blog 8/30/13) But after reading Anne Vandermey’s article, “Yes, Goldman Sachs Really is a Great Place to Work,” I came away less sure of my opinion. (Fortune, Feb.3, 14 pgs 97-104). As The author remarks, not only are the co

“The very rich are different from you and me.”  This quote from Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby I’ve used before, yet always find it revealing when I do. (Blog 4/19/13) This time it came to me after reading, “Unfriendly Skies,” by Peter Greenberg in February’s Town

As our Constitution was written in the age of lamplights and sailing ships, Jean-Phillipe Immarigeon, a Frenchman, proposes that we Americans rid ourselves of government gridlock by rewriting our revered document, recognizing that it was created centuries ago by men who wore wigs. (�

What’s a living wage? The president thinks $10.10 is the magic number. The governors of some states think it’s more. Some think it’s less. I’m not sure how our leaders come up with these figures but in my mind a living wage shouldn’t be a specific number. It should be a perc

For some time, I’ve been twisting my brain inside out, trying to appreciate trends in modern art. A recent article in Vanity Fair, suggests my struggles have been in vain. According to author A. A. Gill, what I need to understand about the new form of expression is that understandin

If I could add another amendment to The United States Constitution it would read: Section I: Congress shall enact no laws that a person of average intelligence is unable to understand. Section II: Any administrative rules created to regulate, enforce and/or clarify said law shall be l

I have seen the future and it’s scary. Not only is NSA monitoring us but so are electronic gadgets. If we let them, they’ll control our lives, telling us it’s time for our valium, nagging us to exercise more or alerting us to some advertising special we might have missed. (“El

I’ve moaned so much about electronic devices, I’m beginning to bore myself. (See blogs 11/14/13 & 12/23/13 for examples.) Imagine, then, my surprise when I learned about two developments I actually would welcome. The first is the driverless car. I’ve heard talk of it for a c