If you’re planning on flying the family somewhere for Christmas… A couple of months ago at our flight school office one of our Private students was slaving away on preflight planning li… | Continue reading
The CIA Factbook says Cuba has a population that is falling in size (growth rate -0.27 percent) and older (median age 41.8; older than the U.S. at 38). This is consistent with what our guide in Hav… | Continue reading
The officers of Empress of the Seas were kind enough to host a Q&A session with passengers. The life of an officer is 10 weeks on, 10 weeks off. The company is responsible for air transport to … | Continue reading
Last Year: This year: We helped 60 sea turtles make their way from frigid Cape Cod to warm Panama City, Florida. Some photos: Merry Christmas to everyone! [Credits: Rectrix at KBED and Shelta… | Continue reading
Good news: I made it to Jacksonville without suffering the indignity of three hours on JetBlue. Bad news: the trip was officially scheduled to depart on Friday, thus making this a three-day journey… | Continue reading
Massport enabled a direct comparison of religions with this display at Logan Airport: 10′ Christmas tree and 10″ menorah. That settles it! A hearty Merry Christmas Eve, then, to all rea… | Continue reading
There is no better contrast than going to Art Basel before getting on a cruise ship. The venue in the U.S. is adjacent to Miami’s Holocaust Memorial: A Swiss bank is a sponsor, but they’… | Continue reading
“Eliot Spitzer snuck me into his apartment in a suitcase: ex-mistress” (New York Post): The former escort, who got paid up to $5,000 a night, also griped that Spitzer could be a slacker… | Continue reading
I’ve started reading Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer by Barbara Ehrenreich. She’s an interesting writer. Years ago … | Continue reading
Two of the most popular political ideas in the U.S. right now are expanded immigration and socialism. While on the ground in Havana it struck me that maybe Cuba provides a good laboratory example. … | Continue reading
“Planned Parenthood Is Accused of Mistreating Pregnant Employees” (nytimes) is about an employer that prefers non-pregnant to pregnant employees: Discrimination against pregnant women a… | Continue reading
One thing that I’ve learned from going to public lectures on astrophysics or planetary exploratoration is that people with no sci/tech education love science and hate engineering. The more ir… | Continue reading
… but they apparently hate the Trump Winery. A promotional email from info@trumpwinery.com was flagged by the Gmail system as spam. (If you want to start a conversation at a New Year’s … | Continue reading
“Officials Say Trump Has Ordered Full Withdrawal of U.S. Troops From Syria” (nytimes) is welcome news for me. One of my hopes in voting for Obama was that he would be able to say “… | Continue reading
“Women May Earn Just 49 Cents on the Dollar: A new study suggests that the gender wage gap is much wider than previously thought” (Atlantic) is kind of interesting. Note that it is a &#… | Continue reading
One thing that I’ve learned from trying to keep in touch with my parents via Skype and FaceTime is that multi-purpose devices, such as smartphones and computers, don’t work well for oct… | Continue reading
It is time for the family winter trip to Florida. Due to the fact that it is too cold to swim in the ocean even in Miami, we’re going to Jacksonville Beach and St. Augustine (kids can enjoy p… | Continue reading
One thing that I have learned from being an expert witness in the U.S. court system is that there are seldom any surprises at trial. Everyone who will testify has already been deposed for 7 hours (… | Continue reading
One interaction from Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland (fortunately my mom has escaped): Brenda the nurse: “I’m from Kenya.”Mom: “I was there in 1988.”Brenda: “It was a lot nicer then.”Me: “H… | Continue reading
“Mom Dresses Six-Year-Old Son As Girl, Threatens Dad With Losing His Son For Disagreeing: A Texas custody case splits a 6-year-old child’s gender identity in two.” (Federalist): In thei… | Continue reading
A friend’s daughter said that people have to pay in order to have a good experience in today’s virtual (game) worlds. “It’s just like the real world in that respect,” … | Continue reading
Buried in “Do Americans marry for love or money? Finally, an answer” (MarketWatch): those who have older models of either smartphone are 56% less likely to get a date, according to a re… | Continue reading
A friend’s daughter attends a suburban Boston high school in which political thinking is strictly orthodox. She threw a wrench into the works the other day, however, by wondering out loud to … | Continue reading
From “Philip’s Guide to Grad School”: Congratulations. You’re a grad student now at a prestigious research university. One of our colleagues was just like you once, an eager… | Continue reading
From our town mailing list… We just finished a 1000 piece puzzle and would like to trade it for another puzzle. You have one you are ready to give away? Our puzzle is: Nevertheless She Persis… | Continue reading
It’s National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, which, as it turns out is not devoted to reminding Americans regarding the importance of careful interpretation of radar data (see “The Man W… | Continue reading
While alive, George H.W. Bush made the news for being a child molester: “Woman Says George H.W. Bush Groped Her When She Was 16: ‘I Was a Child'” (TIME, 11/13/2017). Also a Presid… | Continue reading
“Louisiana School Made Headlines for Sending Black Kids to Elite Colleges. Here’s the Reality.” (nytimes): Bryson Sassau’s application would inspire any college admissions officer.A fou… | Continue reading
Despite having parents who are variously Jewish and former Soviet, our kids insisted on a Christmas tree this year. I started off with a basic steel American-made stand that required tightening fou… | Continue reading
I was too lazy to plug the phone into the Honda Odyssey and listen to an Audible lecture (on ancient Mesopotamia, by a professor who formerly played bass for the band that became the Bangles) on a … | Continue reading
From Professional Pilot magazine, “Middle East: A trip to this region can be a straight-forward, easy and rewarding experience for the well-prepared operator.” With todays longer range … | Continue reading
“On Being Accused” is Neil deGrasse Tyson’s response to “Two More Women Accuse Neil deGrasse Tyson of Sexual Misconduct” (Patheos). The opening sentence: For a variety… | Continue reading
What can we remember George H.W. Bush for? Is it fair to say that Operation Desert Storm was our last truly successful war? How about GHWB’s “Thousand Points of Light” speech in 1… | Continue reading
A bunch of my neighbors here in virtueland (Lincoln, Massachusetts) pull away from the virtue pack by devoting themselves to South Sudanese immigrants to the U.S. These folks don’t make the n… | Continue reading
Even the sourest Trump-haters will love United Tweets of America, a 2008 book that has taken on renewed significance. Order now for Christmas! | Continue reading
The Great Trials of World History and the Lessons They Teach Us, by Douglas Linder, wraps up with two California trials that dragged on forever and cost taxpayers more than $60 million in todayR… | Continue reading
One idea that we have these days is that DNA evidence and scientific evidence in general is the gold standard for a jury. One thing I learned The Great Trials of World History and the Lessons They … | Continue reading
This chart shows that, as of 5-10 years ago, the experience of living in California would involve finding an immigrant family in every fourth house (3 native-born families and then 1 immigrant). Th… | Continue reading
…. but 1+ million migrants per year is good for the U.S.? “Hillary Clinton: Europe must curb immigration to stop rightwing populists” (Guardian): “I think Europe needs to get a ha… | Continue reading
“A $2 Billion Question: Did New York and Virginia Overpay for Amazon?” (nytimes): Gov. Andrew Cuomo defended the deal, arguing that New York has to offer incentives because of its compa… | Continue reading
If you’re traveling today, God help you! I made it back to Boston from Denver via United Airlines on Wednesday. Buried in the fine print of a “Fare Breakdown” was “September… | Continue reading
According to The Great Trials of World History and the Lessons They Teach Us, by Douglas Linder, a professor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law. My dim memory of Classical hist… | Continue reading
Thanksgiving weekend seems like a good time to ponder the big picture. Here are a couple of potentially helpful articles. From Newsweek: The United States has spent nearly $6 trillion on wars that … | Continue reading
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! After listening to The Great Trials of World History and the Lessons They Teach Us, by Douglas Linder, a professor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School o… | Continue reading
Some of my Facebook friends posted in outrage over a synagogue in New York City being defaced with graffiti by a guy named “James Polite” (you can’t make this stuff up!). To them … | Continue reading
“Michael Bloomberg: Why I’m Giving $1.8 Billion for College Financial Aid” (nytimes): Let’s eliminate money problems from the admissions equation for qualified students.America is at it… | Continue reading
“Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Proclamation Targeting Some Asylum Seekers” (nytimes): A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to resume accepting asylum claims from mi… | Continue reading