Why The Worst Get On Top And What To Do About It

My wife grew up in Lithuania when it was part of the Soviet Union, so she had plenty of opportunity to observe the new Soviet man that the ideologists of the Communist Party thought they had created in their planned society.  She was not impressed and nor were the rest of the Soviet people. Popular culture and specifically anti-Soviet jokes, […]

Abundance Or Stagnation?

This morning I congratulated a client on the successful surgery she underwent to replace one of her knees. At 82 she was delighted to be pain free and resume her regular activities after years of degenerative arthritis. She described the technology used in the operation in almost reverential terms. Truly, we are living in an amazing world, full of wonderful possibilities. Technology in […]

Eating Fried Chicken Reduces Breast Cancer

Starbucks will give me 10 cents off  my next drink if I bring in a reusable tumbler and save a paper cup.  Their advertising blurb encourages me to think of the effect on the environment if thousands of people traded their paper cups for Starbucks’ reusable mugs.  Retailers are feeling increasingly charitable these days.  The […]

Old Age Should Burn And Rave At Close Of Day

Saturday morning I received an email informing me that one of my favorite clients had died during the night.  While not completely unexpected, as he had been seriously ill with cancer, the news was jarring.  I was suddenly glad that recently he had not wanted to see any visitors.  I wanted to remember him as […]

The State: Engine of Creation or Engine of Plunder?

While in England recently I visited Buckland Abbey in Yelverton, Devon, the home of Sir Francis Drake (1540-1596).  As every English schoolboy knows Drake is famous for successfully raiding Spanish ships loaded with treasure from the New World, being the first man to circumnavigate the globe, and helping to defeat the Spanish Armada.  Of course, […]