A Bad Start to a Good Trip
I don’t know who decided to put JFK at the south eastern end of Long Island, but he surely doesn’t have many friends in those who have had to brave the impossible traffic of the Grand Central and Van Wyk Expressway to get there. Our American Airlines flight was scheduled to depart at 5:45 so I figured, what the hey, leave in plenty time…say 2:30 and don’t sweat it. Great plans of mice and men, or something like that. Our limo was late; only twenty minutes, but that put us dangerously close to the magic 3:00 window for making it through the mid-town tunnel. I debated telling the driver to hit the FDR and the Tri-Borough Bridge (now the RFK), but I...Getting Old Is Not For Sissies
As Ed H. said just having missed a three foot putt at age 83, “I’m just glad to still be on this side of the grass. He died three months later. Don’t worry, this is not about the inevitability of death. It’s worse. I’m going to write about what happens to a man-child as he enters the autumn of his life. This may not seem like such a big deal to the feminine segment of my limited audience, unless, that is, you happen to be married to one of us that is going through this particular slice of life, and groaning all the while. But to me, it’s a pretty big deal. I can still remember throwing a ball to home plate from center field on one bounce. I revel in the...Out of the Mouths of….
I’ve been watching political town halls late. Yes, I know that it’s geeky and more than a little strange. I would counter that it’s political theatre of the highest order. Wow. The anger, the finger pointing, the squinting of eyes, and yes, screaming and shouting. It makes you think that maybe we got the 1st Amendment wrong. None of us who are drawing breath and have electricity can have avoided images of citizens remonstrating, protesting, shouting, and arm waving at their political representatives, and the cameras lurking nearby at these so called Town Hall meetings. These gatherings were ostensibly intended to engage in a civil...Health Care: Socialized (Or Not)
This discussion must start with an affirmation of fundamental belief. Do the citizens of the United States have a right to affordable health care or not? I believe the answer is yes, but my belief is more rooted in a moral than legal point of view. Although our Declaration of Independence assures us that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” are inalienable rights, there are more than a few American who would disagree that the right to affordable health care is not embraced in this statement of fundamental rights. I’m not going to mount an argument against them on this point, although I think they are wrong. I will simply say that all of our fellow...