The War to Stop is the Next One
Starting a war requires little more than a basic form of primeval intelligence. Stopping a war, however, may call for the concerted dedication of many superior human minds. It is consequently a...
Playing Games with the Facts Around High Oil Prices, While Missing its Economic and Global Consequences
In the United States, oil prices will go up this summer - surprise! For much of the American media, this is a headline. For most US consumers, it is something that happens fairly regularly - albeit...
Lalla Fatima
Lalla Fatima Summer time– blast of the same black sirocco blow-dries bright green under the shattered villa windows. It’s siesta time. Transparent, like a sheet of paper, blank, Lalla Fatima, in...
The Nuclear Option in a Mad, Mad World
The total world demand for oil reached 85.71 million barrels per day (mbd) in 2005. The main consumers were North America that accounted for 30.6 percent (or 25.65 mbd), the Pacific and Asia,...
United 93
On controversy and great filmmaking “United 93” could have easily been gratuitous, or cheesy, or exploitative. It is none of these things. If you feel ready to confront the tragedy of the...
Frail as a Flickering Mirage
Wednesday at last. They met face to face after an eternity of waiting. It began six months ago, at one of many chat websites, in a private chat room, where she bared her soul before him. It did not...
Anyone Out There?
(This article was first published in Jordan’s Living Well magazine) One day this teacher walked into the classroom with an unusually somber look that I shall never forget. As I discovered in due...
Favorite Lies
The truth of the matter is that lying is here to stay, and prosper. Though lying of itself seldom provides a discernable sensation or feeling of pleasure and satisfaction, its results when coupled...
The Saxophone Player and A Stop in New Orleans
In memory of Sheldon P. Zitner, a teacher and friend. The Saxophone Player The wind bears an iron fist, my back to the wall, holding on to the gravity of life. Black night opens its jaws to reveal a...
The American Ways
"THE AMERICAN WAY" is possibly the catchiest tried and true maxim of all American clichés. It is most often used by Americans in fond reference to matters which make them proud, and there are many,...