Blog
A line piled up at the ATM yesterday afternoon, and I stood behind a man my age wearing a Raiders cap—a rarity in San Francisco. He turned. “Damn banks,” he muttered. “And I’ll tell you what’s worse. Wall Street.” I nodded. He had a point, although the Dow closed above 13000 going into the Easter…
You don’t really need to find out what’s going on You don’t really want to know just how far it’s gone Just leave well enough alone, keep your dirty laundry “Dirty Laundry” by Don Henley, released 1982 In today’s San Francisco Chronicle, Chip Johnson asks why so many Oaklanders focus on the killing of a…
The murder of sixteen Afghan civilians allegedly by Staff Sergeant Robert Bales has set many Americans to soul searching. The killings were in themselves terrible. They also have caused serious deterioration in the tenuous U.S.-Afghan relationship. But even more is involved concerning something each of us must fear about ourselves. Family and friends portray Bales—now…
They—whoever they may be—say that truth is stranger than fiction. As a novelist and a lover of satire, I’ll go along with that. Because based on what recently transpired in Afghanistan and what I’ve recently experienced with my novel Slick! truth indeed can make us wonder, “How did that happen?” As to Afghanistan, we know…
Yesterday (beginning Wednesday evening) Jews celebrated Purim. We read the Book of Esther, which presents a great threat to the Jews of ancient Persia. So what’s changed? According to the megillah (scroll/story), Haman, King Ahasuerus’s top counselor, responds negatively to the Jewish Mordecai’s refusal to bow to him. “Accordingly, written instructions were dispatched by couriers…
Spring training is on with baseball’s exhibition games starting. And next week’s Torah portion (Ki Tissa, Exodus 30:11–34:35) tells the story of the Golden Calf. There’s a relationship here. Let’s start with Torah. The Israelites, worried that Moses remains on Mount Sinai for forty days and nights, ask his brother Aaron to make a god…
Last Tuesday, I watched a TV report from Homs, Syria by Marie Colvin, a Long Island native working out of London as foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times. It was both emotional and sobering. Colvin, who sported a patch over her left eye resulting from a hand grenade thrown in Sri Lanka, commented on the…
Two movements with similar names are sweeping the nation. One deals with basketball. The other with our presidential campaign. The first is newer, more fun and a lot healthier for the nation. “Linsanity” has recorded the impact made by Jeremy Lin, point guard for basketball’s New York Knicks, who emerged in the past two weeks…
Jerusalem and Birmingham, Alabama constitute two very different and distant cities. But given the elephant in the political room—the issue that presidential candidates and the incumbent government prefer to avoid—they’re a lot closer than you think. This week’s Newsweek (2-13-12) includes an article on Alabama’s recent immigration law. While H.B. 56 meets Alabamians’ needs for…