60 Minutes is a venerable television news magazine that like its New York comedy foil, SNL, has enjoyed highs and lows over the years. They have broken ground, and stumbled badly. But tonight (Sunday) they redemmed themselves with a full episode dedicated to the Democrative and Republican presidentia… Read full post »

It's a classic setup to a joke. Some doofus walks up to you at a party, or at work, or taps you on the shoulder while you're waiting in line at the bank. The doofus says, "Two guys walk into a bar..."

 It's not funny. It doesn't pretend to be… Read full post »

I suspect there were few news readers, or television viewers, who didn't experience a pang of real regret when the news broke that Davy Jones had died. With a career that spanned more than half a century, Jones was known to virtually every American and most Europeans of a certain age.… Read full post »

Sunday was gorgeous here in central Florida. Not too hot, not too humid, it was just about right. To celebrate yet another in a long line of spectacularly wonderful days, I took the opportunity to meet a friend for lunch at our favorite local restaurant.

The restaurant is in a building… Read full post »

 

Last night, while most of us were sleeping, Yvonne Griswold's light blinked out. That momentous occurrence has shaken my family this morning. Although the event itself was entirely predictable, expected, and a very long time in coming.

Yvonne was born in 1908, before the… Read full post »

I believe it is time for somebody to write a book titled, The Fur-Lined Homeowner's Guide to Dogs. I won't be writing it. But my lack of productivity is not based on my lack of interest, or my lack of insight. It's because I'm vacuuming and I just can't stop.… Read full post »

 

I loved my grandfather like I have never loved any other member of my family. Granddad taught me to swim, to ride a bike, to drive a car, and pilot a boat. I spent at least a month with him every summer, and looked forward to holiday visits as if… Read full post »

Hero, is a word that gets thrown around a lot in the press. More often than not, it's just hyperbole. Reporters who are under deadline pressure search their caffeine addled brains for an adjective that implies nobility, or bravery. They run to “hero” like a fat kid runs after the neighbor… Read full post »

 

It's a simple enough question, but most of us avoid it like the plague. What if I'm wrong? Even though I believe in my convictions with all my heart, I'm not infallible. You're probably not infallible either, although I would hate to make the accusation as… Read full post »

 

My office is not quite like your average professional's office. First, it's painted in a luxurious peach color. That might seem a bit odd and out of place in New York, or Chicago. But here in central Florida peach is a perfectly reasonable option. In fact,… Read full post »

 

It would be relatively easy to poke fun at Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York. First, he's from New York, and as a former resident of a magnificent city bearing the same name, I find that funny right off the bat. I can't explain why. It… Read full post »

I have a predication to make. Now that we're in the early stages of the 2012 Presidential Race, it's appropriate, too. So now's the time.

The next Republican candidate for the Presidency of the United States will be a dumb-ass.

Now you might consider me to be a… Read full post »

 

The headline on Open Salon was clear and concise and unequivocal, “How we know bin Laden's dead.” An offer of proof is included in the subtext. And Kent offers a perfectly reasonable logic to his argument. “Dead Certainty” is the slug at the top of Kent's missive. The m… Read full post »

 

I have a confession to make.

After publishing my 2006 novel through iUniverse, I received a considerable backlash from fellow writers who felt I had made a significant faux pas. It seems that there is a substantial population of readers and writers who feel that the name on the spine… Read full post »

Right off the bat, let me get your attention; If you belong to a third political party, congratulations. Your convictions are strong, your message is important, and you are totally irrelevant to the political process.

Now you're mad, right? Good. You should be mad, because the truth hurts. You shoul… Read full post »

This weekend I will be moderating a seminar on Prisoners of War. The guests of honor will be four gentlemen who served in the U. S. Army Air Corps during WWII, each one of whom experienced the harrowing trauma of being shot down by enemy fire.

Trust me,… Read full post »

It's becoming an almost daily battle cry. My car is trying to kill me. A manufacturer with a reputation for stellar quality, Toyota, is on the ropes - and it is at least possible that there is no good reason for all this Congressionally fired hubbub. Let's take a slightly… Read full post »

While I am undeniably biased, I think Burritos and Gasoline is a pretty darned good read. As novels go it's short, clocking in at just under 200 pages. The story, which revolves around the questionable decision making skills of Frank Stevens, and the debilitating effects those decisions have on his l
… Read full post »

As the news breaks that the United States is pulling the plug on returning to the moon, we as a species reverse course on Neil Armstrong's famous one liner and leap myopically one step closer to extinction. Unbelievable! Unlike every other creature to come before us, humans alone have the capacity… Read full post »

I still cherish the memory of snapping on the television when I was a child, then sitting down on the living room floor to await the rebirth of the black and white cathode ray tube that dominated my view on the world. Ward Cleaver would come into focus on some days,… Read full post »

I don't write book reviews for a couple of very good reasons. The first and arguably most important being that there is absolutely no reason for anyone to take my opinion of a book as an indication of what their impression of the same book might be. Reading and writing are… Read full post »

 

Now that we're in a new year, lots of folks are lining up at the gym to renew memberships that were left unused in the previous year. We're promising ourselves that we'll eat less, study harder, spend more quality time with our families, earn more money, donate more of that… Read full post »

My eleven year old daughter was watching, “Hotel for Dogs” on Saturday morning. No big deal. Don Cheadle is a truly talented man who picks interesting roles. Even a good dad could partially abandon the little one for an hour or so to do chores around the house, I figured.

Popping
…

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Fact number one – I've been in debt since I was 17 years old. It started innocently enough, with a small loan for a used car taken out from the local bank where I cashed my meager paychecks. They gave me $400 based on the fact that they'd known me for… Read full post »

It's late. Not as late as it was last night at this time, but that's only because our clocks will all magically go backwards by an hour tonight.  Still, it's pretty late.

My wife is asleep. So are the kids. Me, I'm up. I'm going to be up for a while… Read full post »