Monthly Archives: September 2010

September 28, 2010

ESSAY

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Electric Car Industry Isn’t Going to Save Us

We all have our off days; Tom Friedman (a man I admire) had one last Sunday in a New York Times column calling for higher gas taxes and a crash program to build electric cars.  As usual, he’s worried about … Continue reading →

87 Comments

September 26, 2010

ESSAY

In the Footsteps of the Kaiser: China Boosts US Power in Asia

Is China the best friend of American power? Beijing’s recent missteps in Asia — moving ahead with reactor sales to troubled Pakistan and crudely threatening Japan over the arrest of a Chinese fishing captain — are swiftly solidifying America’s Asian … Continue reading →

38 Comments

September 24, 2010

ESSAY

Thoughts From a Country Mouse

It’s a little past midnight here in the rolling hunt country of Dutchess County where the Catskills guard the path of the Hudson down to the narrows at West Point.  The leaves are beginning to turn this high and this … Continue reading →

26 Comments

September 18, 2010

ESSAY

Literary Saturday: Science Fiction is a Genre That Everyone Should Read

Something about blogging brings out my confessional side.  Already this week I’ve confessed my shameful love for Walmart; in one of my first posts I confessed my addiction to the $5 necktie.  Now I’m overwhelmed with the urge to share … Continue reading →

95 Comments

September 14, 2010

ESSAY

Save the Planet: Shop Walmart

Shifting my main base of operations from the stately Mead manor in Queens to the rustic Mead hideaway in the rolling hunt country of Duchess County involves a lot of shopping; fortunately for me there is a Walmart just a … Continue reading →

67 Comments

September 11, 2010

ESSAY

9/11, Islam and War

Nine years ago this morning I came up from the subway stop at 68th Street and Lexington Avenue to hear from the breakfast cart vendor that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers in lower … Continue reading →

30 Comments

September 7, 2010

ESSAY

Buck Up, America

La rentrée is what the French call this time of year: the re-entry.  Everything comes to a stop in August; it is too hot to work, and the whole country slows down during the late summer dog days.  Then, come … Continue reading →

61 Comments

September 4, 2010

ESSAY

Literary Saturday: Benito Cereno, An American Classic

For the last few years the first book I’ve assigned in my classes on the history of American foreign policy is Herman Melville’s novella Benito Cereno.  (Go here for a free on-line version.)  Written in 1855, and based on the … Continue reading →

5 Comments