Beware the Ides of March. I just thought I’d say that. How often do a) the Ides of March fall on a Thursday, the day I usually post here and b) I actually remember it’s the Ides of March?
Less than a week until the end of winter and it’s warm and sunny, supposed to approach [...]
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 [...]
In the last week or so (31 January, that is), all your 2011 sources of income were supposed to have sent you an accounting of how much you earned. Adrienne is better at keeping track of these things than I, but I have learned through the years to put my W-2 in the folder on [...]
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 Greece [...]
My neighbors seemed to hit on a 21st century harvest ritual last Sunday. It was the first dusk of standard time and was getting dark around 4:40. It had been a beautiful days and we’d all been closing our gardens for the season, when I noticed fires burning in a few backyards. It seemed a [...]
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. What [...]
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 [...]