Make no mistake about Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s straight out of the playbook. The playbook from the late 1930s, the playbook of Adolf Hitler. The only difference is that Putin says nothing about lebensraum — living space. If there’s one thing Russia has plenty of, it’s living space. But Putin has said numerous …
“I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine, of Ukraine, Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.” I’m no fan of Vladimir Putin, but I will give him credit for one thing. When he purchased Donald Trump, whether …
“Free college? What a crazy idea!” If you live in the U.S., you have almost certainly heard people saying that. You may even have said it yourself. “Hey, nobody gave me free college.” “Hey, I had to pay for my own college. Why should they get it for free?” Well … Shortly after the turn …
CAN WE EDUCATE OUR KIDS WITHOUT MAKING THEM DEBTORS? Read More »
It’s very strange, but I really wish it could be 1961 again. Or at least 1962. Sixty years ago. I was 11 years old in 1961, and I went to school — sixth grade the first half of the year — across the street about half a block up from our house. It was the …
“Let’s all chip in and make Dando Shaft a millionaire.” I was 16 when Don Calhoun’s novel “Dando Shaft” was published, although I don’t think I heard of it until a few years later. It was a halfway unique premise — a mediocre advertising executive setting up a campaign to make himself a wealthy man. …
There are few things that make me more homesick for the 20-plus years I spent in Los Angeles than watching “Bosch” on Amazon Prime. It’s really only one thing. It’s the view from the balcony of Bosch’s home in the Hollywood Hills, usually at night. Look out to the south and west and the city …
I have been a writer for most of my life. When I was 6 or 7 I started writing short stories for my own amusement, and when I was 11 or 12 — I can’t remember which — I actually had a column with my picture in our local community weekly. It was about junior …
I’m old enough to remember when Republicans considered themselves the party of classy people. The GOP was the party of the people who owned and ran businesses, the party of people who belonged to the country club and played golf. Democrats, of course, were the hoi polloi, the folks who carried lunch buckets to work …
I’ve made a. big deal about the fact that I never watch the Super Bowl. It’s the perfect example of American Bloat, a game that seemingly goes on forever. With 30-second ads selling for $7 million, the commercials have become an incredibly big deal. A great deal of time and effort goes into rating the …
I have a feeling recent developments in the news aren’t going to make Donald Trump happy. If there’s one thing people with massive egos don’t appreciate, it’s people laughing at them when they aren’t trying to be funny. Trump’s toilet habits — particularly using commodes to flush documents — have become big news lately, and …
