What if I wasn’t me? How would the world look? I guess it would depend on whichever skin other than my own I stand in. I’ll give you an example. The other day, remembering my youth, I realized synagogues – Temple Beth David and Temple Emanu-El – stood on two of the four corners of […]
The story of America is the story of race. It has been since a couple Germans grafted the name of an Italian navigator onto the continents in the middle of the last millenium. That it is still the story of America (especially the United States of) is evidenced by two stories in the news this […]
A stalking horse, for hunters, is something of a moving blind. The idea is that the prey – often birds – would be startled by the appearance of a human, but not a horse or cow, so the hunter uses the stalking horse (“stalking cow” doesn’t have the same ring) to approach unseen, until the […]
I’m on Rick Santorum’s side – in a narrow, limited sense. The former senator from Pennsylvania is not my kind of politician. There may be a few issues on which we agree, but I’m not inclined to seek them out. That said, Mr. Santorum meets the qualifications to run for president of the United States. […]
New York Times columnist Joe Nocera hinted Monday at something that’s been on my mind for a while, but he didn’t come right out and say it. His column was on the European money crisis and the gist of his argument is this: it makes economic sense for Germany (Europe’s economic powerhouse) to bail out […]
Accountability
What is a reasonable cost for a conference for 300 civil servants from across the western US? Airfare, food, lodging, conference facilities, speakers, prep, etc., etc. From the news stories, it’s clear that $823,000 is way too much. Next year’s conference, I’m just guessing, will be substantially less extravagant, so let’s say $300,000. That means […]