The GOP presidential aspirants are getting a lot of mileage by demonizing the potential of a civic health care system, but they clearly don’t know history. We’ve actually done something like this before in another area of our health and safety. Take this example from the history books: Boss Tweed. The refrains from the nattering… Read more »
On the first day of this month, the New York nightmare happened to me. The apartment beneath me caught fire. The girl who lives there wasn’t at home, but I’m lucky I was, because I had just returned from three weeks away. I’m fortunate my apartment wasn’t empty, because I smelled the smoke, then I… Read more »
A friend recently gently accused me of being too vocal on Twitter about bad customer service. “Do I henpeck too much?” I asked her. “It’s what makes you you,” she said. “Keep pecking.” Being a consumer reporter is one of the things I do. Being a travel writer, too, is a form of consumer reporting…. Read more »
The United States Postal Service lost $3 billion last quarter, and now its masters intend to cut overnight delivery, slow down mail, and close facilities (particularly in poor neighborhoods). Government-hating Teabaggers whinge, but the fact is that while the Postal Service is federally mandated, it does not receive taxpayer money. So if we’re going to… Read more »
I wrote this post on September 18, 2001. I haven’t changed a word. I titled it “Ago.” + + + + + + That morning, I was awakened by the silence. I don’t recall what woke me up early, at 8:45 a.m., but it must have been something. Probably something I heard in my sleep,… Read more »