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Category Archives: United States
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
If you take everything we know about good television and do the exact opposite, the result is Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Low resolution, cheap sets, slow pacing. Same holds for the recent documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, similarly slow moving … Continue reading
Posted in United States
Tagged Fred Rogers, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, self-esteem, Whitney Houston
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Behind the Pane of Empty Storefronts
Are you a Cambridge resident? Go online and vote for your favorite empty storefront art by March 8, 2019. __________ What do Americans buy with our affluence? Privacy. Single-family houses in gated communities, automobiles for every driver in the family, … Continue reading
Posted in United States
Tagged ART, Cambridge MA, City of Cambridge, retail, street art, vacant storefronts
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Oligarchy 101
How often do we read an article or website and fly through words without really knowing their meaning? Very often. It’s a lot of work to know the exact definition of every word and assess how accurately it’s used in … Continue reading
Posted in United States
Tagged Capitalism, democracy, Oligarchy, political satire, Russia, Socialism, Washington DC
2 Comments
Entertainment Tonight … and Tomorrow … and the Day After That
It’s inauguration anniversary week—one year since Donald Trump took the Oath of Office. Many will pen commentaries on whatever good or ill our President has delivered. I fall square in the camp that believes Donald’s a bully who’s diminished our … Continue reading
Winter is Coming
In the Bicentennial year of 1976, my Sociology professor proclaimed, “The United States won’t have a revolution; you can’t have a revolution in a country where 70% of the people are satisfied.” His statistical construct may be correct. What’s … Continue reading
Posted in How Will We Live Tomorrow?, United States
Tagged Game of Thrones, Newton's Third Law, revolution, United States, winter
2 Comments
Everything Wrong with this Country in Ten Seconds or Less
I came upon a most perfect example of civic disintegration today. Perfect not just because it exemplifies the brazen meanness of people with power, but also because the incident is so inconsequential, the only reason it could possibly occur is … Continue reading
Make Mass Violence History
When I was eight years old, in 1963, I gave my parents an ashtray for their anniversary, a ceramic swirl of dusty coral with gilt trim. They displayed it on the coffee table. Boyhood satisfaction glowed when my mother pulled … Continue reading
Posted in United States
Tagged make smoking history, mass violence, public service campaigns, tolerance
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Audiobook Orgy Part 4: American Theocracy
Kevin Phillips has a grand, sweeping thesis: three interrelated factors are bringing America down. First there is oil. The energy that drove the unlimited aspirations of the American Century is showing its limits in the 21st. Second, there is religion. … Continue reading
Posted in United States
Tagged American Theocracy, Christianity, debt, fundamentalism, Kevin Phillips, oil
2 Comments
Audiobook Orgy Part 3: In Defense of Food
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” These seven words address everything Michael Pollen has to say in defense of food, but seven words does not a book make, and so he continues on for 200 more pages. Mr. Pollen … Continue reading
Posted in United States
Tagged Big Food, In Defense of Food, Michael Pollen, obesity, The Omnivore’s Dilemma
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Hampton Inn Art
I know, I know, it’s a cookie cutter hotel chain with ubiquitous facilities. When I wake up in a Hampton Inn, which I have in half-dozen cities, it takes a few minutes to remember where I am. However, among its … Continue reading
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