More from the master of motorcycling self-deprecation. Originally published in Keystone Motorcycle Press, March 2022 Really appreciate new KMP reader Mark Robbin’s letter in the February issue. He was responding to my piece in the January issue where I noted that my 75-year-old butt had a hard time doing more than 150 miles at aContinue reading “Riding the Plank“
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I Know A “Better” Story
My title comes from a feature in our local paper where readers submit feel-good stories about smelling flowers or nostalgic breakfasts in long-closed area diners. I’m going to send this in, because it’s way more interesting and it all really happened–there were easily 1000 witnesses. But my guess is they won’t publish it. [By golly,Continue reading “I Know A “Better” Story”
What Are We Waiting For?
Two recent CNN interviews have stuck out for me. Before I get to the details, let’s be clear. I’d pretty given up on CNN. Too much biased blabber in place of actual news, and too many commercials. But, as someone pointed out, when the chips are down CNN is the gold standard for crisis coverage.Continue reading “What Are We Waiting For?”
Maybe It’s Time
Originally published in the Lititz Record, March 4, 2021. Revised and updated. After reading Tim Snyder’s sobering article in the NY Times, I’m beginning to think that America has at last been defeated. Not by external enemies but by our own insatiable appetite for information. We’ve abandoned our local news sources, as Snyder points out,Continue reading “Maybe It’s Time”
The Sea of Rice
Being a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to haiku, I bristle when I see these compact poems rendered by would-be “poets” who fixate on the 5-7-5 syllabic structure and ignore the other essential elements of this Japanese form: a seasonal reference and some sort of surprise or contrast. Of course, writing a haikuContinue reading “The Sea of Rice”
Silver Linings
It wouldn’t seem we have much to be happy about. First there were the four turbulent years of he who shall remain nameless. During that time, our democracy was set back about 300 years, maybe 3000, as institutions, traditions and the rule of law, all of which combined to give our lives stability and structure,Continue reading “Silver Linings”
Watch Your Back!
Read one of those Clancy-type techo-thrillers recently. The premise of this one was that the Russians used threats by the Chinese against Taiwan to distract US attention away from an operation in Europe, which, in turn, would be a distraction from their real objective, which was recovery of some rare-earth mine in Kenya. It wasContinue reading “Watch Your Back!”
Parallels
Everyone knows the old saw about not studying history and being condemned to repeat it. But the parallels between now and pre-WWII are really amazing. So as I wait to hear President Biden’s speech in a few moments, following Russia’s incursion into those two Ukrainian provinces, I have to wonder if we’ve learned. Let’s rollContinue reading “Parallels”
War! What is it good for?
God, I hate to be prescient…again…but a good ol’ war would certainly be a boost for Joe Biden’s poll numbers, and perhaps would provide the needle the must eventually be stuck in the festering boil that is our contemporary politics. Enter one Vladimir Putin. It looks like Val is about to attempt to take aContinue reading “War! What is it good for?”
Bad for Business
As usual, I write one of these things and a week later somebody notable, like Tom Friedman, comes out with essentially the same theme. Great minds think alike. Not sure what’s happening in my case. But, here’s my original take: It was in the interests of the wealthy to look past Hitler’s sins. Germany wasContinue reading “Bad for Business”
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