The brazenness and bloodiness of the continuing Mexican drug wars is astonishing. On Monday, a drug gang gunned down Rodolfo Torre Cantu, the leading candidate for governor of the state of Tamaulipas, one of the Mexican states along the border with Texas. The candidate was out campaigning when his motorcade was stopped by a truck [...]
Archive for June, 2010
Death South Of The Border
Posted in America, crime, World, tagged America, crime, drugs, Immigration, Mexican Drug Wars, Mexico, Rodolfo Torre Cantu, World on June 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Ian Malcolm Was (And Is) Right
Posted in America, Ohio, sports, tagged America, Asian carp, fish, Fishing, Great Lakes, Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park, Lake Erie, Mississippi River, Ohio, sports on June 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
We all remember Dr. Ian Malcolm, the annoyingly egotistical mathematician and chaos theorist from the Jurassic Park books and movies. Malcolm confidently predicted that, for all of its technology, Jurassic Park was a fundamentally unstable creation that would inevitably fail because “life finds a way.” He was right, of course. His statement has proven to [...]
A Disturbing Crisis Of Confidence
Posted in America, The Economy, tagged America, cars, Consumer confidence, economy, Unemployment on June 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The data on consumer confidence in the United States is very discouraging indeed. Americans are, by nature, optimists. In past recessions American consumers have spent and borrowed with complete confidence that things were going to get better and have thereby helped to pull the economy into recovery. That doesn’t seem to be happening in this [...]
Public Art At The Ohio Statehouse (II)
Posted in Art, Columbus, Ohio, tagged Art, Civil War, Columbus, Ohio, Ohio Statehouse, Peace Statue, Public Art on June 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The next stop on our tour of public art on the Statehouse grounds is the Peace statue, which is on the north side of the Statehouse grounds, directly across Broad Street from the Rhodes Tower. The Peace statute was erected by the Womans Relief Corps, Department of Ohio, in 1923. It commemorates the “heroic sacrifices [...]
Off To Phu Quoc
Posted in Family, Travel, World, tagged Family, Phu Quoc, Travel, Vietnam, World on June 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Russell has been on the move and has left the friendly, if sweaty, environs of Ho Chi Minh City. Rather than heading east to Mui Ne, however, he has gone south to Phu Quoc. Phu Quoc is an island in the Gulf of Siam that is south and east of mainland Vietnam, near the coast [...]
R.I.P., Professor Ginsburg
Posted in Reflections, tagged Georgetown University Law Center, Martin Ginsburg, Reflections, Tax Law, Teachers on June 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I was very saddened to learn today of the death of Professor Martin Ginsburg, an extraordinary teacher and intellect. For many years Professor Ginsburg taught Tax Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, and I was privileged to learn from him. I took my first tax law course from him not because I had any [...]
The (Comparative) Rise Of Public Employee Unions
Posted in America, Work, tagged America, Labor Unions, Public Employee Unions, Union Membership, Work on June 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
When I grew up in Akron, Ohio in the ’60s — at that time a classic blue-collar, Democratic city — unions were a big part of the landscape. People paid attention to what the head of the United Rubber Workers had to say. The men who headed the AFL-CIO, the United Auto Workers, the United [...]
Public Art At The Ohio Statehouse (I)
Posted in Art, Columbus, Ohio, tagged Art, Columbus, George Washington, Ohio, Ohio Statehouse, Public Art, Sundials on June 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday after I finished my Saturday morning work I took a walk around the Ohio Statehouse to look at the various statues, plaques, fountains, and other pieces of public art that are found on the Statehouse grounds. It is an interesting collection. However, it seems to be generally ignored by the Columbus community, perhaps because [...]
Sequel Fatigue
Posted in Movies, tagged Gone With The Wind, High Noon, Hollywood, It's A Wonderful Life, Movie Sequels, Movies, Pinocchio, Rear Window, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, The Wizard Of Oz, Toy Story 3 on June 27, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Last night Kish and I went to see Toy Story 3 in 3D at the Easton movie theatres. It was well done, I suppose, but I found myself thinking about how little true creativity we see in popular culture anymore. As nice as it was to see Woody and Buzz Lightyear in a new adventure, [...]
Journalism Adrift
Posted in America, Blogging, tagged America, Blogging, Eleanor Clift, Internet, Journalism, McLaughlin Group, Politics Daily, Washington Post, Woman Up on June 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve posted before on “the new journalism” found on blogs and websites and spurred by the internet and easy access to sound and video recordings. Today, even an obscure video or blog posting can “go viral” and have an enormous, immediate impact that is difficult for newspapers or weekly news magazines to match. There is [...]
Dark And Stormy Nights
Posted in Travel, World, tagged Bermuda, cocktails, Dark and Stormy, Travel, World on June 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
A final point about our recent visit to Bermuda: it seems like every time you visit a tropical location, there is a new cocktail that people are drinking. In Bermuda last week the overwhelming cocktail of choice was called a Dark and Stormy. The Dark and Stormy is made in a tall glass with plenty [...]
A ComFest Lunch Hour
Posted in Columbus, Music, tagged Bronson Bunny Deathwish, Columbus, ComFest, Community Festival, Music, The Ageless, The Shallow Side on June 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Today Richard and I had lunch. He had the excellent idea to walk down to ComFest for our noontime meal. We hoofed it down to Goodale Park, strolled past the food and vendor tents, bought a Bahama Mama from Schmidt’s, and listened to the end of the set from The Shallow Side at the metal [...]
Next Stop: Mui Ne?
Posted in Family, Travel, World, tagged Family, Ho Chi Minh City, Mui Ne, Travel, Vietnam, World on June 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Russell reports that he is enjoying Ho Chi Minh City. He has visited the War Remnants Museum mentioned in my post on Monday, met up with a Vassar classmate who is in the city teaching English, and has found the cost of living to be quite manageable. He says that his efforts at painting outdoors [...]
D.C. Heat Wave
Posted in Humor, weather, tagged D.C. Heat Wave, Heat, Humor, summer, Washington D.C., weather on June 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I saw that the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area experienced a heat wave today, with the temperature reaching 100 degrees in June for the first time since 1997. The story about the heat wave brought back some memories. Kish and I lived in D.C. from 1981 through 1986, and during the summer the heat was the [...]
The Queen, The Hog, And The Coin
Posted in Humor, Travel, World, tagged Bermuda, Coins, Currency, Hog Penny, Hog Penny Pub, Humor, Queen Elizabeth, Travel on June 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
When Kish and I were in Bermuda we bought a soda, paid cash, and received some Bermuda coinage as change. I took a look at the coins and was surprised to find that the bright copper Bermuda penny has the familiar likeness of Queen Elizabeth sporting a crown on one side and a hog on [...]
