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BECAUSE THE RIVER’S WET BUT BEALE STREET DONE GONE DRY – W.C. Handy
Last year, the United States Congress voted to declare the year 2003 the “Year of the Blues.” This took place while unemployment benefits ran out, while the U. S. was snarling at Iraq, while most of the Congress was seeking re-election and while the economy was limping along. But in the end, as someone who…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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S O D – O – M Y
Once in a great while, the United States Supreme Court issues a decision that causes a good deal of public controversy. At the end of its 2002 – 2003 term in June, a six to three ruling was published having to do with sodomy. It ruled against a Texas statute barring sodomy. This essay is…
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WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS IN IRAQ
OR: THERE AIN’T NO JUSTICE IN MILITARY JUSTICE Early in December, 2003, news reports and network television broadcasts quoted Lt. Colonel Nathan Sassaman of the United States Army as delivering these pungent remarks after the American Army had shot up some Iraqi villages. Col. Sassaman said, “With a heavy dose of fear and violence and…
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A THOUGHT ABOUT WAR AND A LITTLE PHILOSOPHY ABOUT HATRED
From time to time, my thoughts turn to the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan. As a World War II soldier, may you be assured that war is not a pleasant pastime. It is repugnant. Combat soldiers see bodies blown apart and maimed. The soldier you were pals with yesterday, may be a maimed cripple…
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ARMY DAYS – AFRICA AND OTHER PLACES
I suppose it would be well to write this essay in a bit of a hurry. The reason has to do with the grim reaper mowing down people who served in the military services in World War II. Two years ago, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs reported that World War II veterans were…
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GET IT IN WRITING
You may find it hard to believe, but late in 1977, a bill was being prepared to be offered to the Assembly of the New Jersey Legislature, that would require men dating women to declare their intentions, in writing, early on in the romantic process. So if a young man saw a nice looking young…