Electricity is like water, wire like a hose

I was reminded this week of a lesson my grandfather taught me about electricity a large number of years ago. Grandpa had retired from the Massachusetts Transit Authority, where he had been responsible for keeping the electricity running to the streetcars. (In San Francisco, New Orleans and many movies, they are known as trolley cars.)
I [...]

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Seeking Sakai

In Fall 2007, I was privileged to write about P.O. Box 1142, an ultra-secret World War II interrogation site near Washington, D.C. One of the most significant factors in the story, other than it had been kept secret more than 60 years, was that it’s methods involved treating the enemy with respect and friendship.
Herewith, another [...]

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Those silly ad phrases

Some of the boilerplate verbiage we encounter as we are prevailed upon to purchase various wares guaranteed to help — or at least not hurt – us, is a bit amazing. Most of them are on television, and an ad starring Alec Baldwin may explain why.
In the commercial, Baldwin has come to Earth to promote [...]

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21st Century Pen Pals

I am on Facebook, one of the better known “social web sites.” Users of Facebook get to designate certain people as “friends.” Mostly it is simply a place to leave each other messages.
My site has remained mostly dormant for the several months I have had it. My real friends generally communicate with me more personally: [...]

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What a way to start the year

The news Wednesday night carried a rather innocuous notice: The U.S. Post Office has asked Congress to allow it to stop delivering mail one day a week.
NBC gave the story a little history. On CBS, there was a simple one-liner.
Neither network mentioned the number of jobs that would be lost when mail delivery drops from [...]

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