What Can Be Learned from the Seattle Experience with COVID-19 I live in the bedroom community of Puyallup, Washington and commute to my hotel job in downtown Seattle. Unfortunately, that also means I have been following the outbreak of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) from its very first diagnosis in the United States. I am writing this…
Flyer Rights Have Since Been Strengthened One of the most uncomfortable travel experiences I ever had was trying to back to the United States from Europe in 2001. I had been studying in Bergen, Norway but it was now time to return to Arizona. I had booked a connecting flight to Amsterdam, then there was…
In September 2001, I was visiting a friend in Denton, Texas, a quaint college town located northwest of Dallas. I had a few nice days visiting with my friend before the twin towers fell on Sept. 11, 2011 (9/11), abruptly ending my stay. I remember my friend calling from work to wake me to tell…
Houston Rally Showcases Presidential Ambitions Although humorist S.J. Perelman popularized the phrase “crazy like a fox” with his 1944 book of the same title, Texas Governor and presidential hopeful Rick Perry seems to fit the bill exactly in 2011. Perry has slyly kept out of the media spotlight for most of this year, only recently gaining widespread…
Déjà vu. As I trek to Best Buy this Sunday morning to pick up Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy, I can’t shake the feeling I’ve been down this path before. I imagine that music reviewers the world over are scratching their heads now that the album is finally released. How do you go about reviewing…
It would be an understatement of biblical proportions to write that November 4, 2008 went badly for the Republicans. The dust is still settling, but it is clear the Democrats picked up at least 6 Senate seats and 19 House seats. Obama won the Presidency handily, with a comfortable margin in the Electoral College and…
A review of Obama’s first memoir, Dreams from My Father It is rare indeed for the general public to be able to glimpse inside the soul of a politician. What makes him tick? we wonder, when we know that we will never get a clear answer. Politicians by nature lock away their skeletons and throw…
Tipping used to be a way to show appreciation for a service performed well. Now the ubiquitous tip jar can be found throughout the fast-food industry, from coffee shops to Chinese takeout. Over time, the tipping expectation spread from a few well-defined industries — restaurant, pizza delivery and bartending — to include any number of…
Ralph Nader seems to be peddling two distinct messages on the campaign trail. The first, tried and true, rails against both Democrats and Republicans alike as being corporate pawns, insensitive to the plight of the common American. There is little difference between the two political parties, and the only vote for change will be for…
A 2-1/2 cent piece for your thoughts? One of my biggest complaints about U.S. currency policy, apart from ‘Big-Headed’ bills and extraneous nickels, is that no one has any plans whatsoever to get rid of the penny. Nearly worthless, the U.S. Mint produces 13 billion pennies a year at a cost of .72 cent per…