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OH SAY CAN YOU SEE…
According to historical facts, this country declared its independence from the English monarchy some 235 years ago. But judging from the comments about a wedding taking place on Friday of this week, it would be hard to discern that we were at last free of the constraints of the English monarchy. From what I can…
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GOVERNOR WALKER’S CLINIQUE DE CASTRATION ET ANNIHILATION
I do not claim to be an expert on many affairs that afflict the human condition, but I do claim some expertise in the field of labor relations. I spent nearly 17 years working with grievances and bargaining and all the politics that go with labor relations. My best guess is that I spent six…
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FURTHER THOUGHTS ON THE MATRICULATION OF SERGEANT CARR
In this mailing, there is a report on the matriculation of Sergeant Carr as he spoke to the 23 members of Class 4B at the Glenwood School in Millburn/Short Hills. When the festivities were done and I had said nearly all that I could say, I retired to write the teacher, the volunteer parent, and…
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THE MATRICULATION OF SERGEANT CARR, ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES
Those of you who read these essays carefully may recall an incident dating to January of 1936. At that time, I entered high school. The Clayton Missouri public school system offered a course in high school in preparation for those who were going on to college. When I was asked if college were in my…
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EXPIRATION BY DRIBS, DRABS AND OCCASIONAL DOLLOPS
According to a book that has been in my possession for many years, there are 47 synonyms for the death of a person. My purpose here is to add, as unpleasant as it may seem, a 48th definition for the end of life. It will go by the grand and eloquent title of “Expiration by…
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TWO RANDOM THOUGHTS
The first random thought is that we are making some sort of progress in terms of imagining supernatural creatures sending storms and hurricanes to disrupt our lives. At the moment those of us on the east coast of the United States are preparing to deal with Hurricane Irene. It threatens to uproot our trees, blow…
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PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALLETH
Those of you who are familiar with the literature of the Bible will recognize the title of this essay as a corruption of a verse from Proverbs. Specifically the verse comes from Chapter 16, Verse 18. That verse in its unexpurgated form holds that pride goes before a fall. Because this essay is being dictated…
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MISSING THE BLUES
It is a biological fact that as men age, the more girlfriends they acquire. Last week, I had a long conversation with just such a girlfriend where the attraction between the two of us goes back for more than 30 years. If you read Ezra’s Essays closely, you will find that the girlfriend was a…
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FRANCESCO’S QUESTION
Every nine weeks I visit a podiatrist associated with the Summit Medical Group. He takes care of ingrown nails and all of the other problems that afflict the feet. Francesco is a nice fellow in his early forties who laughingly mentioned that if his children remained in parochial schools, he would have to be working…
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HEY, MICHELE, PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTION
This essay is being dictated on Sunday, the morning after the straw poll in Iowa was taken. In the straw poll, Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul each finished with about 30% of the vote. She was fractionally better than Ron Paul, so she claimed a victory. Mind you, this is 30% of the vote in…