The other day I read a piece about the supposed consequences of electing Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City, a notion that has gripped the financial press for a few weeks now. I even saw a post from my favorite financial writer, Bill Cohen, that stated that his conversations in the market indicated that Wall Street was far less worried about the U.S. bombing Iran than they were about Mamdani winning the Democratic…
The other day I read a piece about the supposed consequences of electing Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City, a notion that has gripped the financial press for a few weeks now. I even saw a post from my favorite financial writer, Bill Cohen, that stated that his conversations in the market indicated that Wall Street was far less worried about the U.S. bombing Iran than they were about Mamdani winning the Democratic…
How are we supposed to feel about the U.S. bombing of Iran last night? For almost 50 years we and Iran have been at odds with one another. They have, indeed, called for the annihilation of both Israel and the U.S.. Thry have been at the center of much of the terrorism cloud that has blanketed the globe since 9/11 and before. Their fundamentalist way of life is anathema to our western liberal democratic ideology.…
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the United States and Soviet Union that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. It’s widely considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear conflict. I was eight years old at the time and living in the heartland of Madison, Wisconsin. While my mother got her graduate degrees at the University of Wisconsin, I attended Spring…
Today is a day of protest. I am very aware of how often I write political stories on my blog. I know that for the three weeks I was traveling, I hardly wrote anything political as I was engaged in my travel experience. But now I am back here not traveling and faced with the realities of life in these United States in times unlike any we have seen since the 60s. I was too…
War exists due to a complex interplay of factors that have persisted throughout human history. At its core, war often emerges from competition over scarce resources – whether that’s territory, water, oil, or fertile land. When groups believe they need these resources to survive or thrive, and peaceful negotiation fails, conflict can escalate to violence. Power dynamics play a crucial role too. Leaders may use war to maintain or expand their authority, rally domestic support,…
Fingers are a funny appendage. They pretty much dominate one entire human sense, our sense of touch. They have to be very sensitive and tactile while being very rugged and durable since they are used every day for multiple chores. For instance, tomorrow morning I can think of three distinct things I will use my fingers for. The obvious one is that they are my preferred mechanism for inputting my thoughts into stories via keyboarding.…
The Conclave ended yesterday with the elevation of the first American-born pope, who took on the name of Pope Leo XIV. This is viewed as a continuation of the doctrines of Pope Francis, focused on inclusivity and the advocacy of the most marginalized of the world, specifically immigrants. Nothing more defines our epoch of the world than the issue of immigration. I’ve said it before, so I will risk repeating myself by saying that this…
I’m sure most people think that Harvard University’s sports uniform color of crimson has something to do with its long history or its regal beginnings. Not so. Harvard’s color is crimson because in 1858, when Harvard’s rowing team needed to distinguish themselves at a regatta, they chose to use red bandanas as their identifying marker. This choice eventually evolved into the official adoption of crimson as Harvard’s color. The specific shade of crimson became official…
I don’t do a ton of social media and never have. I’ve specially gotten off of Facebook, but apparently the rest of the world is not there as I see Meta setting g new quarterly earnings records. I keep an eye on Instagram but never post (not sure how that adds to Meta’s pocketbook). Snapchat is how my kids and I stay in touch. From what I can tell, that strongman, Anatoly and whoever publishes…