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THE GREAT SUBTRACTION CRISIS
In the past two months Americans and, indeed, the rest of the civilized world have been troubled by the banking crisis as well as the collapse on Wall Street. Recent reports suggest that the banks are now turning a hefty profit and reading the stock tables will suggest that the stock market is recovering. From…
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CONCUPISCENCE
The Reverend Charles E. Coughlin was a Catholic priest in Royal Oak, Michigan, who had a radio contract to deliver weekly sermons. I am not certain as to the extent of the network that he broadcast over but am reasonably certain that it covered the eastern half of the United States. His broadcasts started in…
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A ROBUST ODE TO OUR MODEST COMMODES
I suppose that it is commonplace for us to have to overlook the things that give us comfort and pleasure. Men overlook the contributions that women make in cooking their meals and keeping their houses clean. Children often overlook the efforts of their parents in providing schooling for them. So being forgetful is not an…
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MEMORIAL DAY 2009 A RETROSPECTIVE
Memorial Day will be celebrated two days hence. On that day, the President of the United States will lay a wreath on The Tomb of the Unknowns. In Millburn, New Jersey the American Legion post will gather a few of its members, dressed in overseas caps, who will march from their headquarters on Main Street…
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ON BEING SCARED SPITLESS AND/OR THE BIG GUY SYNDROME
Since the Bushies have departed the political scene in Washington, we find that many of them are emerging from their burrows and holes in the ground to tell us that following the events of September 11, 2001, we were all scared spitless. I have a clear recollection of my thoughts after the destruction of the…
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LIPSTICK FOR PIGS
Logic has taken one brutal beating recently from Condoleezza Rice and from our former Vice President, Mr. Cheney. For example, this past week, which was the last week in April, Madame Rice, addressing a group of Stanford University Students, was asked about waterboarding. She provided an answer that was convoluted as well as full of…
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SEX, SEX AND MORE SEX
It may seem unseemly for a man of my advanced years to write an essay about sexual matters. On the other hand, it also seems to me that I had no choice in the matter. If my mother were to reprimand me for having thoughts about ungodly matters, I would be forced to tell her,…
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PREGNANT PONDERINGS ON POETIZING
Every pulpit pounding preacher will tell you that ecclesiastical confessions are essential to good health. I imagine those preacher were made ecstatic a week or two ago when Bernie Madoff confessed that he had committed eleven felonies. Such preachers will tell you that confessions will fix any ailment known to man or beast. And so…
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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…
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THEY NEVER BETRAYED ME
This is intended as a long overdue tribute to my friends, the Italian people. Specifically, it has to do with the United States Depression starting in 1929 and secondly, it also has to do with the War in Italy which involved United States forces from 1942 to 1945. In my mind, there is a clear…