Apres Ils, le Deluge
As the desperate financial plight of many state and local governments comes increasingly into view, expect many of those august bodies to become ever more …
Homeland Secured
Do you remember when the PATRIOT Act was controversial? It seems to me at one time that there was quite a fuss raised about it, …
Declare the Pennies on Your Eyes
January 1 in the United Kingdom saw the value-added tax (VAT) increase from 15% to 17% – one of the legacies of the disastrous administration …
Your Papers, Please
The legislature in South Carolina has passed a “Subversive Activities Registration Act,” the upshot of which is that any “member of a subversive organization . …
Tittle Tattle
Once again it’s almost that magical time of year – that’s right, time for the convention catalog of the Modern Language Association to thud into …
Skirting the Surveillance State
Despite the iconic status of the double-decker bus, the black cab, and the tube, London is a city best seen on foot. The speed of …
Disease Vector
Though swine flu has yet to much harm in the United States, it is not only Mexico and parts south that are suffering. The virus …
Bandwagoning
Sometimes I wonder about the mentality of those who choose politics as their career. What childhood trauma, what formative experience of powerlessness led them to …
Kick the Ball, Charlie Brown…
One of the running jokes in the much-missed television sitcom “Arrested Development” involves the characters, in their extremely rare moments of self-reflection, pondering the choices …
Back to Work
A loathsome story out of Greenburgh, N.Y., where the property taxes have risen so high that elderly widows on fixed incomes can no longer afford …