Monthly Archives: October 2011

Zero to Seven Billion

When I heard the seven billionth person is due to be born Monday, I thought I must have made a mistake a few years back.  “Didn’t I just write a commentary on the six billionth person?  Was my math wrong?” My math was not wrong.  I wrote that commentary the first week of October 1999.  […]

How to Read the Washington Post

Sunday, the Washington Post published “Obama allies’ interests collide over Keystone pipeline,” which on its face is a news story.  It’s also a guide to life in our nation’s capital. The gist of the story is that when it comes to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, the White House is pinched.  On one side are […]

Gotta Be Cool on Wall Street *

I have no desire to occupy Wall Street.  Not that I think it’s a bad idea.  I think it’s a great idea, I just have no desire to participate.  Maybe that makes me part of the problem. On the other hand, heading down to Wall Street would take me away from my day job and […]

Not to Look Away

When I was in grade school, we learned the Nazis came to power in a time of economic dislocation, the worldwide Great Depression.  We learned Germany was a once-great nation in decline after the military defeat of World War I and the Nazis appealed simultaneously to the fears and the nationalism of the German people.  […]