Today’s post is a nod to George Carlin, the brilliant recently-deceased comedian. Two days ago in New York state (black Friday, November 28, 2008) a Walmart employee was killed when a mob crashed through the doors of the Long Island store in a rush to start that days holiday shopping. Here is a partial account [...]

Does packaging ever frustrate you? It seems like it could be done better. So many items are, well, nearly out of reach. Or at least beyond easy accessibility. Or just poorly executed. I consider myself a fairly strong guy. I have big hands, and I can tell you that I sometimes need all that strength [...]

I think the single-most threatening thing to our democracy is increasing irascibility and incivility in our public discourse. The talk radio nabobs spread this coarseness daily, and inquiring minds who want to know- but can’t quite think on their own- repeat the nonsense. Half-truths, rumors, out-of-context stories and plain old piffle gets tossed around as [...]

They aren’t really things, just ideas. And they cost nothing. Perhaps that’s what they are worth. Anyway, here goes: 1. It was interesting to listen to international reaction to the election of Barack Obama. One thing of note was hearing South African cleric Desmond Tutu’s statement that he thought it was a good idea for [...]

I am not sure why, but I like to banter with service people I encounter. Clerks, waitresses, the check-out person at the grocery store- these are all folks that I often strike up a conversation with. I guess most people are reticent to do this. I don’t know why. I think it livens things up [...]