Blog

DEVELOPERS ARE CIRCLING MY NEIGHBORHOOD 

By David Perlstein | May 16, 2025 |

Will my neighborhood in San Francisco’s Richmond District undergo NIMBY-YIMBY warfare? Or will common sense prevail? A while back, the Little Sisters of the Poor closed St. Anne’s Home, which housed retired nuns. They put up for sale the six-acre property, a 10-minute walk from my house. The site fronts on upscale, leafy Lake Street…

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PLATO, COMICS AND COMPETING AMERICAN VISIONS 

By David Perlstein | May 9, 2025 |

The Greek philosopher Plato and several comic-strip characters can tell us where America should be going. Plato wrote of numina and phenomena. Numina represent the ideal. Phenomena attempt to express the ideal in physical or other form. Plato used a chair as an example. The ideal chair can’t be seen. Real chairs, whatever their design, are attempts to…

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O CANADA! 

By David Perlstein | May 2, 2025 |

Does eating breakfast make me a Benedict Arnold? I’ve always considered myself a loyal American. When I was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army after being graduated from Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia, I swore to protect and defend the Constitution. I maintain that oath. Now, am I aiding and abetting a…

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DEMOLITION DERBY 

By David Perlstein | April 25, 2025 |

My neighborhood is full of home-improvement projects, including my own. What I see says a lot about today’s American government. Most homeowners and landlords maintain or upgrade their properties. New owners often make major renovations. On my daily walks, I see up to two dozen subcontractors providing electrical and plumbing services, hardwood floors, windows, sheetrock,…

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POLICE STATE USA 

By David Perlstein | April 18, 2025 |

A favorite novel begins with a terrified protagonist:  “The footsteps—thick-sole, steel-toe heavy, no pretense at stealth—approached our floor from the wrong direction. On a Monday morning, most people left their apartments for work, shlepped their still-sleepy way down the stairs as Indira had earlier. The stomping that terrified me came up from the lobby. I…

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PASSOVER—A TWO-EDGED SWORD

By David Perlstein | April 11, 2025 |

Shabbat ends tomorrow (Saturday) night and Passover begins. The weeklong holiday will bring both joy and distress.   Passover commemorates the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and slavery (though not of the Black American sort). What’s more, Pharaoh ordered the deaths of newborn Israelite boys. The story is familiar to most Americans, though not all. Several years…

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THE HERMIT OF MAPLE STREET—A FABLE

By David Perlstein | April 4, 2025 |

A drive to brunch at a friend’s house provided a jarring encounter with a suburban hermit. As I parked at the curb at the house next-door, the neighbor’s front door flew open. A white-haired man popped out. He wore a red, white and blue bathrobe over white pajamas. His feet were tucked into red slippers.…

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THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR AND SIGNALGATE

By David Perlstein | March 28, 2025 |

What happens when an American President reviles competence? One week ago, Donald Trump called out Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman for reporting that Elon Musk would receive a Pentagon briefing on potential war with China.  Trump went schoolyard bully. He called Haberman, Maggot. He said she should give him her Pulitzer Prize. And:…

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NUKING EGG PRICES 

By David Perlstein | March 21, 2025 |

Mea culpa! I didn’t understand Donald Trump when, during the presidential campaign, he said that “starting on Day 1,” he would drive down inflation, including egg prices.  I didn’t comprehend during his inaugural address when he proclaimed that “the golden age of America begins right now.”  Now, I get it.  The President of the United…

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WORDS, IMAGES AND AUTOCRACY

By David Perlstein | March 13, 2025 |

We used to say, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.” Such innocence! The pen can mightier than the sword. So, a bully has prohibited certain words—and images—from use by government agencies. Toadying civilian organizations likely will follow suit. The Trump administration now outlaws—or cautions against—hundreds of words on…

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