Columns

While clearing my desk in preparation to analyze the recent elections, I received this request from a reader. Stop picking on the French, he said, and instead write about something that “fills your heart with deep and abiding joy.” Good idea. Here is a thought that infuses me with about as much deep and abiding joy as the old ticker can stand. Now that George W. Bush has … [Read more...] about Nov. 10, 2002: Looking Back on the Elections

You may have missed this bit of news, but the world is coming to an end. I thought you would want to know. The announcement comes straight from the New Lighthouse sect, a religious cult in France. I don’t know about you, but I listen carefully to anything the French say. They only work six days a month, so that leaves them plenty of time to drink wine and analyze things … [Read more...] about Nov. 3, 2002: Have You Heard? The World is Coming to an End

The recent sniper attacks in the Washington D.C. area have people in the media assessing their coverage of that event. Good for them. This is a business quick to tell you about your own faults, but not given to introspection. I found this out the hard way. After the bombing of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by Arab terrorists in September 2001, a column appeared in … [Read more...] about Oct. 27, 2002: Soul Searching Follows TV Coverage

It must be late October. The days are growing shorter. The Braves have pulled their annual chokeroo and we have an important election just around the corner. We can do nothing about the shorter days or the annual Braves flop, but we can do plenty about the election. We can vote. The first thing to remember is that you live in a republic. A republic places the power in the … [Read more...] about Oct. 20, 2002: If You Don’t Vote, Don’t Squawk

Let me state up front that I grew up not liking unions. My dad was a foreman for the now-defunct Railway Express Agency, and as a kid I could always count on the railroad unions to pull a wildcat strike at Christmastime and ruin our holidays. Also, the unions enjoyed a bunch of featherbedding rules that insured their members didn’t have to work nearly as hard as my dad and … [Read more...] about Oct. 13, 2002: Carpenters Union Building Political Clout