I am the measure of all humanity. My height is average. If you’re shorter than I am – well, sorry, you must have been the runt of the litter. If you’re taller – perhaps you should consider a career in pro basketball. My income is average. If you earn less than I do, it’s clear […]
The day after Christmas, the New York Times published a column by Judith Warner in which she discusses the ethics of using cognition-enhancing drugs beyond the boundaries of their prescriptions. The drugs in question – Ritalin, Adderall and Provigil – are prescribed for attention-deficit disorder (the first two) or narcolepsy (the third). People unafflicted, however, […]
Another too-warm Vermont winter sputters to an end. My backyard, bereft of snow, is a mottled greenish-brown. Over in Montpelier, America’s smallest state capital, legislators – about to return after town meeting recess – are bogged down (as are their counterparts across the nation) trying to cut spending quickly enough to keep pace with the […]
Our Tortured History
The weird thing about the torture memos in the news this week is that I can’t stop thinking about Harry Potter. In those books, the bad guys – the wizards and witches that had been drawn to the Dark Side – make their case thusly: This isn’t about good and evil, it’s about power and […]