Month: September 2016

  • BUSH AND MUSSOLINI | TWO CONSUMMATE LOSERS

    As we have been told by scholars, history has a way of repeating itself. Today, we find the Bush administration beating the drums for war against Iraq. As always happens, Iraqi leaders are being demonized. Of course, demonizing Saddam Hussein is an easy thing to do. But beyond Hussein, this country and Britain have stooped…

  • BITS AND PIECES – PART 3: TONY BLAH – ED CAH – AND WAH: AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE REDUX

    Being born in the American Mid-west, my native tongue is English spoken in broad, flat tones without regional accents. My English is not of the hard Boston variety, nor does it reflect the softer tones of Southern speech. Thus, the title of this essay in Mid-western speech would read, Tony Blair, Ed Carr and War,…

  • NEW YORK, NEW YORK PART 9 – NEW YORK AIN’T MISSISSIPPI OR ALABAMA

    For readers who have stayed with me through the first eight parts of the New York series, I hope I haven’t worn you out. New York is a very big town and most observers would say that I am very fond of it. I know when a snowstorm hits the city or when a train…

  • CREDENTIALS

    It must be supposed that lots of people want to establish their credentials, perhaps to impress other people or to solicit business for their enterprises. In the top drawer of my desk, there is a collection of calling cards with all sorts of abbreviations representing the higher credentials of the owners. There are M.D.’s by…

  • BITS AND PIECES – PART 2: ST. LOUIS, LUCKY, AND APHASIA REDUX,

    ST. LOUIS BLUES This is a small St. Louis story which comes from a news release from Washington. In 1764, Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau, French explorers and fur traders, established a town on the west bank of the Mississippi River and named it after one of the French monarchs, Louis XV. You will be surprised…

  • NEW YORK, NEW YORK PART 8 – GEORGE FEYER – ONE OF THE GREAT ONES

    In the international telephone business in the 1970’s and 1980’s, it was a delight to visit correspondents in Montreal, London, Paris, Rome and even Johannesburg. Those were the easy ones with good airline connections, good hotels and food to please any palate. Among the tough ones were countries in Africa and the eastern European states…

  • NEW YORK, NEW YORK PART 7 – “A PICTURE ON THE WALL AND MUSIC IN THE HOUSE”

    When I was in New York City for union bargaining in 1949, 1950, and 1951, I found myself being drawn to Greenwich Village. In many cases, food and drinks were cheaper there than in midtown. The place had a small town feel to it. If you ate at a restaurant two of three times, chances…

  • HOWELL RAINES INCL EWING

    Mr. Howell Raines Editorial Page Editor The New York Times 229 West 43rd Street New York, N. Y. 10036-3959 Mr. Raines: The Editorial Page of the New York Times is one surprise after another. In the first instance, I now look to the Editorial Page for my sports news. That’s where I found comment on…

  • HOWELL RAINES DOESN’T LOWER THE BOOM

    In a recent editorial, I criticized – very mildly – his belated discovery that Mr. Latrell Sprewell has been up to no good by choking his coach. The fact that his coach is patently awful doesn’t mean that he is a candidate for garroting. Today, I find an editorial that seems to say what needs…

  • BITS AND PIECES – PART I

    If a writer is going to write essays, which I try to do sometimes, ideas are needed. In the beginning, these ideas usually take the form of short notes for my files. Later I may turn some of these short notes into essays. On the other hand, many of these notes will not ever become…