One of the biggest long-term stories I covered in three decades as a newspaperman was the housing market. There aren’t many subjects that have had more effect on American society — or on the ever-increasing gap between top and bottom — than housing. Buying a house at the opportune time or selling at the top …
I was listening in the background last night as my wife watched CNN’s “Assault on Democracy” special on Donald Trump’s effort to steal victory from the jaws of defeat in the 2020 election. I try very hard to avoid television news and commentary, especially when it comes to Trump. Maybe it’s my age, but it …
Not all progress is progress. Television, for example. Back in the late ’50s, the time of my earliest memories of TV, we watched on smallish black and white sets. There were usually only three channels to choose from, and you could only watch shows when the networks had them scheduled. There was no Tivo, no …
THERE’S PROGRESS, BUT NOT WORTH TRASHING THE OLD Read More »
Easy question. Which World War II participant makes the most use of the swastika to exemplify its current values? If you said Germany, you’re wrong. It may have been Deutschland Uber Alles back in the days of Adolf, Heinrich and Hermann, but Nazi regalia and particularly the swastika have been verboten in Germany since 1945. …
“Any time while I was a slave, if one minute freedom had been offered to me, and I had been told I must die at the end of that minute, I would have taken it — just to stand one minute on God’s airth [earth] a free woman — I would.” Nearly 85 years before …
A hundred guys and a thousand sheep in Wyoming have two senators. A hundred guys and a thousand polar bears in Alaska have two senators. That seems fair and balanced until you realize 40 million people in California also have two senators. Now some of you will immediately start whining about the original intent of …
I think if I were a conservative — which thankfully I am not — I would be very insulted at how little Trump and his minions think of my intellect. Particularly cheesehead Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who insists that the January 6th insurrectionists were actually disguised members of Antifa and Black Lives Matter. The …
I was 12 years old in the summer of 1962, the first time I really listened to the radio a lot. There were two great American groups that debuted that summer, one out of Southern California and the other out of New Jersey. Of course, the first one was the Beach Boys, who I saw …
I’m pretty sure there is no reason I would ever vote for Mike Pence. He’s not quite part of the Ted Bundy/Dennis Rader wing of the Republican Party (both were Republicans, look it up), but he was Donald Trump’s sidekick for much too long not to have been permanently damaged. The Hoosier politico started out …
“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death. … I think peace and tranquility will return again.” If you’re familiar with Anne Frank, you might recognize the closing passage of her famous Diary. …
