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IS THE POPE NOW NEARING HIS DOTAGE?
There are some observers who might regard the heading of this essay as a provocative statement. However, to Pope watchers such as myself, the statement is justified by a sharp drop in the Pope’s voltage which may be due to a short circuit. Two particular statements have led me to conclude that this octogenarian Pope…
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A TINY CANDLE AT THE END OF A LONG DARK TUNNEL
When the United States began to sink into the quagmire that engulfs our banking industry, the stock market, and our fortunes, most politicians contended that we were only in a recession. Those of you who have been reading Ezra’s essays for a few years will be aware that for more than a year I have…
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IN PRAISE OF BRIGHT, INTELLIGENT PREACHERS
There is an oxymoronic quality to this essay which I hope will meet with your favor. The oxymoron has to do with a writer whose belief is in non-belief, who then publishes an essay in praise of preachers. But that is what I intend to do in this essay about preachers. For more than 66…
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FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC
I have no way of telling you whether eternal life really exists. I cannot tell you about this condition because I have not yet died. However, when the time comes for me to answer the roll call up yonder, there will be certain things that I will miss greatly. Naturally I will miss my wife…
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CONFESSIONS THAT WILL EXCITE AND ENRICH THE SOUL
It is the standard belief of preachers that confessions are beneficial to the soul. My religious beliefs or lack thereof bar me from knowledge about the soul. However, yesterday, February 17, brought three confessions that must have benefited every soul known to man or cattle. The first was a confession by Alex Rodriguez, the $30…
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AN IMPROBABLE MARRIAGE
Giving titles to the essays that are produced at this desk is not an automatic function. I suspect that most people would believe that after the essay is written, it would be titled. My mind works in a perverse way. I ordinarily title the piece and then go on to write it. I suspect that…
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IN LAVISH PRAISE OF SCALLIONS
There are dilettantes who dine on snails, caviar and champagne who will contend that eating a scallion is beneath their stature in life. They will contend that it is nothing other than a peasant food. Your old essayist holds a contrary view. In his estimation, the enjoyment of any meal except breakfast is increased by…
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MENTAL DWARFISM AT A TIME OF GREAT NATIONAL CRISIS
As I dictate this essay on February 11, 2009, there is a grave national crisis surrounding the American people. From my view, it is a crisis of the same proportions as World War II and the great Hoover depression of 1929. There are a good number of brains at work on the crisis for which…
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GI SPEAK
This humble and modest little essay has to do with language. Specifically it has to do with the language spoken by enlisted men, always called GIs, in the American Army in the era of World War II. This is the language spoken among enlisted men, and it has very little to do with the lofty…