Decline and Fall of Common Sense

A Humilating New Year's Resolution

2008-01-01T13:42:00.000-05:00

Youth is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to. Then it comes down to us older folks who go to bed before midnight as I did last night. But it was not before thinking about whether I should jot down a New Year’s resolution or two on the pad on the night table. During the last few years I gave up on resolutions and began to look forward to

Opportunity to Earn $2 Billion Snubbed

2007-12-30T18:43:00.000-05:00

As 2007 comes to a close I suppose I should be grateful for the many opportunities I have been offered by total strangers to pocket millions of dollars for very little work. I estimate that I have received three or four such opportunities a week this year. Each email spins a story more grand and with a more perilous and tragic story than the next. At an average of ten million dollars per offer

'Holey' Art: The Being and Nothingness!

2007-12-29T19:41:00.000-05:00

This year two major pieces of art at galleries in London and New York City were basically holes in the floors of the buildings, yet were the subjects of glowing reviews. Doris Salcedo's "Shibboleth," a large crack in the floor of a hall at London's Tate Modern By the way 15 people have suffered minor injuries after tripping. The piece is said to symbolize racial and

Oprah, Allow Us Voters to Form Our Own Opinions

2007-12-28T20:00:00.000-05:00

Last night’s LA times had an insightful article (written by Tina Daunt, Cause Célèbre) on celebrity endorsements and the growing number of Oprah's fans that are fuming from her Obama endorsement. They didn’t use ‘backlash’ but that is the term that best fits.One posting on her website, Oprah.com, accused the talk diva of being a traitor. By Thursday, that message string had attracted more than

Let them Eat Babies

2007-12-28T01:32:00.000-05:00

Jonathan Swift’s, A Modest Proposal suggested that the cure for England’s over population problem was to eat all the babies. That was a satirical essay. But it was taken as true by some in its day. . . as humorous as this next revelation sounds though it IS true . . . it’s actually the law of the land now.In essence, this week’s EOCC ruling from our nation's capital confirms that employers can

Turning on the Heat; the Ultimate Outsourcing

2007-12-27T09:29:00.000-05:00

The other day I called Elizabeth Gas, our local utility to turn on the heat at our Newton, NJ warehouse. To my surprise, I heard a seemingly familiar accented voice on the other end, similar to the one that I had just hung up with trying to solve a software problem earlier that morning. Which didn't happen. So my ear was tuned in.I had to know.“Am I calling India?” I asked.“Yes sir,” the polite

Fox News Encourages Illegal Aliens

2007-12-27T02:42:00.001-05:00

Dear Fox News,Aren’t you contributing to the mortgage crisis by accepting teaser rate mortgage loan ads on your web site? This is what started the financial crisis in the first place.The heading says Mortgage Rates for 4.65%. The actual APR is over 7.75% with a possible 1% increase every six months. A real bargain? I calulate that is an actual 66.7% over the rate in the headline. (7.75-4.65=3.1