I learned a joke about the first week I moved to Charlottesville Virginia back in 1976. Yeah, I’ve been in Virginia that long (except for part-time bicoastal living in Long Beach from 1983 to 1986).
Continue reading Stepping Up to the Plate
You have to be carefully taught. Being given a green light makes the situation worse.
What am i talking about? Racism. Nazism. Fascism. And, I know a bunch of you are going to switch sites now, because you hate being preached to. Because you want to keep onto your hate.
Continue reading Running amok?
When my first daughter was born, everyone was panicked about SIDS. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Oh, the police tried to pin the deaths of loved infants on the parents, since it was all a mystery. But, with time, we learned about this insidious problem.
Security! We all scream we need more security. That’s not quite satisfied by you having a password for your computer system that you keep on a ‘sticky’ attached to your monitor for “safekeeping”. Or using your birthday to “secure” your phone.
Continue reading Whorly insecurity
Wow. In the past few days, we baby boomers have lost some iconic figures. Glen Frey. David Bowie. All folks whose music I enjoyed profusely. Of course, Alan Rickman- a non-musician- died almost simultaneously to those two. And, today, Maurice White (of Earth, Wind, and Fire) succumbed to his Parkinson’s Disease.
Continue reading From GW to the Waterfront…
When we moved to Virginia from Ann Arbor and Cambridge, we were more than a little surprised. (I am not talking about the culture shock nor the concept that “there’s a chance of snow tomorrow and schools will be closed” either.)
Continue reading One less nickel and dime tax
They’re ba-ack… Not the poltergeists, although many of you may consider them part of the genre…No, it’s the required annual tax filings…
Continue reading A FIVE letter word. (OK, maybe 3 for some…)
Tomorrow is election day. For Virginia and New Jersey, as well as the City of New York, these are big days. We (in Virginia) are going to elect new governors, as well as legislators that will make laws we will have to live with for years, if not decades. And, that’s the point. Too many of you (I have only missed one election- a primary that was held in March- since the first time I have been allowed to vote) only vote in Presidential elections. Which means that you let other folks pick your Congresspersons and state officers- that pass rules with which you vehemently disagree. Or let them move district boundaries to insure that their favorites get elected time and time again, or to insure the opposite party has no chance of gaining a seat. 
The bubble has burst on the American Dream. We have lost sight of our vision, our mission. As President Clinton said, “If we become ideological, then we’re blind to evidence.” So, I guess we are totally blind, because we have become inimically ideological.
Continue reading It’s YOUR job!
We thought it was the Arab Spring. But, now, the revolts in Turkey, Brazil, Egypt, Israel, Chile, Russia, and the various US states are showing that was too simple an explanation. These revolts (with the probable exception of Russia) are now aimed at democratically elected governments.
Continue reading Arab Spring? I think not.
Oops. UVA is back in the news again. A year later. (I last reported on the UVA shenanigans in August of last year.) For a few reasons. It seems that Helen Dragas, while remaining on the board, will not be the Rector comes 30 June. The first black Rector of the University, George K. Martin, will take her place on 1 July 2013. Mr. Martin is an attorney with McGuireWoods, one of the most prominent of Virginia Law firms, where he manages the Richmond (and headquarters) office. While he does practice law (corporate), he has been intimately involved in the administration of the firm, which will hopefully put him in great stead to take the reins of the UVa Board.
Continue reading UVA Progress?
