Blog
The first draft of my novel 2084 (set in 2044) contained the Preamble to the New Covenant for America. On July 4, 2035, Congress had replaced the Constitution. A recent New York Times article cautioned that this may be less fiction than forecast. The Preamble read in part: We the People of the former United States, in Order to .…
The plight of German Jews in the 1930s has been likened to a frog in a pot on a lit stove. The water warms slowly. The frog’s unperturbed—until the pot begins to boil. Are today’s American Jews undergoing the same experience? In 2017, white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanted, “Jews will not replace us.” President…
Adam and Eve relate directly to the principal owner of the San Francisco Giants and America’s upcoming midterm elections. Let’s start at the beginning. This week, we begin the annual Torah reading cycle. It commences with the initial portion of Genesis—B’reishit. “In the Beginning” is one of several translations of that first word. The portion…
Humans long have loved gambling. (“See that mammoth?”) So, I’m offering the over/under on a matter of great significance—Vladimir Putin’s hold on power. I’m setting a six-month window. Take under, and you think Putin will vanish between October 15, 2022 and January 14, 2023. Bet over, and you believe he’ll be through between January 15 and April…
Even in the face of global warming, inflation, American political divisions and Russia’s war on Ukraine, small local issues sometimes offer a ray of hope. San Francisco “slow streets” program limits through traffic on Lake Street north of my house. Some Lake residents love their slow street. But traffic must go elsewhere, so I see not a…
Queen Elizabeth II has gone to her ancestors. King Charles III reigns. Life in Britain and the Commonwealth goes on. Sounds like Rosh Hashanah. I monitored Elizabeth’s death and the rituals leading up to, and including, her funeral. Admittedly, I didn’t watch all that much; Carolyn followed the events far more extensively. As to the…
Some people believe that the term master bedroom is racist. Slavery was abhorrent, but let me disagree about the term and make my case. According to homeeon.com, master bedroom originated in the early 20th century—“a room reserved for the master of the home.” Trelora.com states, “The 1926 Sears catalog marks the first recorded use of the phrase . . .”…
I think I’ve been too hard on Donald Trump. To be more evenhanded, let me contribute a few ways he and his legal team might rebut Department of Justice suspicions of criminal behavior. The dog ate my homework. Items the FBI took from Mar-a-Lago included empty folders. Many had contained a classified document up to top…
Much has been made about government documents Donald Trump stashed at Mar-a-Lago. I’ve accessed the Department of Justice’s list of personal items to be returned. The following bear stickies with Trump’s comments. (Note: DOJ semi-redacted key words.) Items include . . . A photo of President Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin. Trump’s note: I’m KING PRESIDENT of…
White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, noted for espousing propriety, long have disparaged ethnic groups as garrulous and unruly. America’s ethnics often strike back, chiding WASPs as desiccated while praising themselves as demonstrative and warm. Caricaturing others—and ourselves—only inflames America’s culture war. Case in point . . . In a September 2022 Atlantic article, “Let Brooklyn Be Loud,” Xochitl Gonzalez,…