Blog
I was in the canned soup aisle at the supermarket the other day. A white-haired couple was studying prices. The man, with a friendly face and a paunch a loose shirt couldn’t conceal—I’ll call him Jack—smiled. “If you look, you can find some real good buys.” His wife, with rosy cheeks and a pleasant smile…
Last Wednesday, President Obama announced that in July he will start drawing down American troops from Afghanistan. Ten thousand will be gone by December 31, another 23,000 by summer 2012. It’s more than time. America’s post-9/11 invasion of Afghanistan was warranted to find Osama bin Laden and destroy the training camps he’d established under Taliban…
With the summer solstice on the horizon, we can’t help thinking about what the recent Arab spring has meant. Protests and revolutions developed from Algeria to the Persian Gulf. Some deposed tyrants—Tunisia’s Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. Others keep trying in Libya and Yemen, Bahrain and Syria, where Bashar al-Assad seeks to maintain…
In Mountain Lake Park the other day, I met three young people hefting backpacks—a man with a goatee, a walking stick and a purple hat that would have done Dr. Seuss proud and two women in colorful clothes. They were heading to the Golden Gate Bridge to hitchhike up to Spokane, Washington. I gave them…
At Torah Study a few weeks ago, several people took offense at the concept of Israel as God’s chosen people. My response: yes, the Torah portrays Israel as chosen. But as I write in GOD’S OTHERS, going beyond a surface reading reveals just what Israel is chosen for. Throughout the biblical narrative, all nations remain…
Gertude Stein’s famous “There is no there there” implied that Oakland, her childhood home, had not achieved much of a presence. San Franciscans often agree. So, too, many Americans think that progress and decency end at this nation’s borders. Having returned Wednesday from two weeks in Paris and London, I’d like to remind those Americans…
The other day I saw two boys running home after school. The “hare” sprinted ahead then faltered and stopped. The “tortoise” kept running and disappeared from view far ahead. I thought of conservatives—and many liberals, too—who take the “hare” or sprinter’s approach to the economy. Either push some free-market buttons or throw government cash at…
While a young advertising copywriter in San Antonio, I met a talented illustrator named George Hughey. George’s business card read, Ars gratia pecuniae—Latin meaning art for money’s sake. George was an artist but practical. I empathized. Virtually every advertising “creative” wants to be a great novelist, poet, screenwriter, painter or sculptor. Most find solace being…
One question some Jews undoubtedly posed at their Seders last Monday and Tuesday nights is, “Why are we here? Why, after 3,300 years, do Jews still observe Passover?” Pesach is the most observed or noted holiday on the Jewish calendar. American Jews with no other connection to religion—and perhaps a dwindling identity with Jewish culture—mark…
Last Wednesday, before President Obama outlined plans to reduce the nation’s deficit and debt, the AP’s Jim Kuhnhenn wrote of Mr. Obama’s taking on the challenge of “risking liberal anger and Republican scorn.” Such is the predicament of anyone—caught like Ulysses between Scylla and Charybdis—seeking reasonable solutions to the vexing problems of the budget. Ideologues…