Ought v. Naught Reimagining America George Pratt Shultz lived 100 years and for 35 of those years was a leading force in the forging of America’s foreign and domestic policies. He held four different cabinet-level positions under two Republican presidents, holding a seat at the cabinet table for a dozen years from 1969 to 1989. He was on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors for Eisenhower, Secretary of Labor, Director of the Office of Management…
The Fringes of Fall We turned an important page yesterday. We wrapped up a whirlwind weekend actualizing and celebrating my youngest son Tom’s wedding to his new bride, Jenna. The wedding itself was on Sunday, which the cognoscenti will recognize as indicative that it was a Jewish ceremony held under a chuppah, a Jewish bridal canopy. Tom is not Jewish, but Jenna is. Tom was raised in a very open and embracing manner in Manhattan,…
Being Rude Modern life is all about managing through an 8 billion person world. It can be misleading as we travel around from here to there. Whether in the West or the East, the North or the South, there are great swaths of wide open spaces. I watched a movie the other day called Survive. It was about a woman who is suicidal who survives a plane crash and then has to find her way…
Hot & Cold Water We are in Beacon, New York this Labor Day weekend for my son Tom’s wedding, which will take place on Sunday. He is marrying Jenna, who we have known for ten years, and Kim and I could not be happier about it. Tom and Jenna got engaged two years ago when he proposed to her under the Manhattan Bridge on the Brooklyn side of the East River. As we were coming…
The Not-So-Dead Sea Scrolls I enjoy drilling down on articles in the National Geographic, and this week NG is highlighting an article on the Dead Sea Scrolls and what they tell us about the thinking at the time of the life of Jesus Christ, and thus how that thinking impacted the development of early Christianity. This piqued my interest for two reasons. First, my general interest in antiquity and specifically the history of such an…
The Pacific Has No Memory The Shawshank Redemption has been the top-rated movie on IMDb ever since it went to video almost thirty years ago. Strangely enough, the movie was not a box office success, and while it was nominated for seven Academy Awards, it won not a one. It’s heritage was solid, having been based on a story written by Stephen King and adapted by director Frank Darabont, who never again did anything as…
A Blue Super-Moon As a nod to the uniqueness of the moment and as a bonus for my readers (at least those who like my stories), I am sending out a second story today, just like August is sending us a second full moon tonight at 9:30pm. A Blue Moon, as most of you know is when there is a second full moon in a month (a month being, by definition, a lunar cycle). That…
Gray Divorce I read two articles this morning with very different and noteworthy perspectives. One was from CNN on the topic of the trend among Baby Boomers towards choosing to live alone in later life. The other was from The Economist about happiness and how they have determined that happiness continues to rise, on a very steady upward curve, as we age. Since happiness is closely connected to relationships and being around people as well…
American Racist I just heard on the news that there was a shark attack on Rockaway Beach in New York City. My daughter and granddaughters go to my ex-wife’s beach club on Atlantic Beach at this time of year for some fun in the sun and at the beach. Atlantic Beach is a beautiful stretch of Long Island sandbar that happens to look right across the inlet to Rockaway Beach. Naturally, I couldn’t help myself…
Riding Into the Sunset Today I decided to take a Sunday ride since Kim is not home and my dance card was wide open. The weather was just about as perfect as it can be, and I took full advantage of it by heading out at 7:30am to catch the best of the clear morning sunshine and cool temperatures. I had a minor snafu in that my BMW R1250 GSA came up with a low…