13 Sunday Nov 2011
Posted in Family and Friends
When I last wrote about retiring, I had left my job of working with troubled kids and their families and was about six months into ‘retirement.’
Now it’s been three (or is it four?) years. And things seem quite different.
10 Thursday Nov 2011
Posted in Go Sox
As a follow up to the excellent column I linked to at this site the other day (The End of Everything at State College, Click Here if you haven’t read it), I add a column from this morning’s Washington Post, written by the wonderful sports columnist Thomas Boswell.
Boswell always seems to see clearly and say things well, often things we may be thinking but haven’t put words to yet.
Click Here to read Boswell’s column.
08 Tuesday Nov 2011
Posted in Go Sox
Although at this site I tend to focus on baseball, I also follow sports in general.
Those of you who know of what has occurred at Penn State with Jerry Sandusky and all those around him have no doubt read numerous articles about this tragedy. If you haven’t read about it, start with the 23-page grand jury report (you can get to it from this site).
There is no sugar coating possible here.
Thanx to a Facebook posting by a former colleague, Justin Barrasso, I came across the following article and pass it on. It’s not about the facts nor about the outrage(s) per se but about the corollary damage that comes when those we invest with power and prestige fail to do what is right.
07 Monday Nov 2011
Posted in Family and Friends
The railway tracks. Click Here to see more photos by Maria Jesus Verdugo.
It Wasn’t ‘The Final Solution’
Thankfully.
A month ago I reversed the death walk that many of the 1.1-1.5 million Jews exterminated at Auschwitz-Birkenau were forced to make.
Whether or not you’ve visited this extermination camp or have simply seen pictures in any of the now many museums, films, or books dedicated to the memories of this and other Nazi camps, you probably have a picture in your mind of Jews being unloaded from boxcars and standing on the ‘platforms.‘
05 Saturday Nov 2011
Posted in Go Sox
Now that we have to suffer with no beisbol (as my friend Nelson refers to it) until the mid Feb. spring training reporting time, I thought I might offer a small contest for the Hot Stove League participants amongst you.
So here it is:
Predict some occurrence that will happen this winter (e.g., Pujois signing with the Yankees, Tito being chosen as manager of the Cubs, or perhaps Torre going to the Sox as a manager, etc).
04 Friday Nov 2011
Posted in The Outer Loop
For those of you who have followed MillersTime’s The Outer Loop blog, you know that episodically I post or link to articles and speeches that I believe help us understand what is happening in our country.
Once again I turn to Bill Moyers for his insights. This time it is a speech he gave in October 2011 celebrating the 40th anniversary of Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen organization.
03 Thursday Nov 2011
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Here are two recent Escapes & Pleasures that have me a bit baffled, one a film and one a novel. I’ll write a bit about each but would sure be interested in any thoughts any of you have about either or both of them.
02 Wednesday Nov 2011
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Having just returned from a long weekend in SF and Napa, I thought I’d give readers the benefit of the good fortune we had in having three good Chinese meals while we were in SF. The first is inexpensive, seedy, and has what I call ‘Chinese comfort food.’ The second has some of the best, and most expensive, dim sum I’ve had in years. And the third is the best of all and worth you going out of your way to find.
01 Tuesday Nov 2011
Posted in Go Sox
Now that ‘that’s’ over, MillersTime can announce the two winners of the contests that had not been previously decided.
For Contest #1 – make a prediction about the 2011 baseball season – the clear winner was Peter Shimm who back on Feb. 7 boldly said that neither the Sox nor the Phillies would be in the World Series. How did he know?
28 Friday Oct 2011
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Thomas Wolfe was wrong.
Finding myself with a free afternoon in San Francisco, where I hadn’t been in three or four decades, I did what anyone in my position would do. I headed to Sam Wo’s restaurant in Chinatown.
27 Thursday Oct 2011
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Joan Didion, author of A Year of Magical Thinking, among many other writings, will be in DC at the Avalon movie theater talking with NPR’s Susan Stamberg about her new memoir, Blue Nights.*
I have a free ticket for someone to join me to hear Didion and Stamberg, The date is Thursday, November 10 (at 8 PM).
26 Wednesday Oct 2011
Posted in The Outer Loop
MillersTime readers hopefully know by now that I often post articles or links to articles that I believe advance a debate, help our understanding of what is going on in our country and the world beyond, or pieces that I just think deserve wider circulation.
Today I post Frank Rich’s recent article in New York Magazine. Rich left the NY Times this year because he indicated he wanted more time to think about what he was writing as well as the opportunity to write longer articles.
While the current media and various constituencies are jockeying to put their spin on what is taking place with OWS and the Tea Party, Rich takes a step back and looks at an historical context for what is now occurring, and, in the process, I think, adds good perspective.
Feel free to add your comment below.
26 Wednesday Oct 2011
If you’re a Sox fan, you’ve probably read ex-GM Theo Epstein’s Boston Globe explanation to The Red Sox Nation on why he decided to leave the Sox for the Cubs. (He also took out a full page add in the Globe a few days earlier, thanking Boston fans. To see the add, Click Here).
I am very curious as to what Sox fans’ reaction is to Theo’s farewell explanation
For those of you who are not Sox fans, who hate the Sox, who love another team, I am curious also about your reaction to his column.
I will leave my reaction until after hopefully a number of you will comment in the section below. Do indicate whether your a Sox fan or not, and as always, be civil.
Click Here to read Theo’s piece.
18 Tuesday Oct 2011
Posted in The Outer Loop
For the past 30+ years, ever since my wife Ellen became the Director of Center for Responsive Politics and the good Larry Makinson taught all of us how to follow the money in Congress with his Open Secrets work, I’ve been aware of and followed the role of money in politics.
I thought I pretty much knew the most of it. But this morning I read an article by Thomas Ferguson (The Price of Power: Congressional Leadership Positions for Sale to the Highest Bidder) that even made me wince and included information that Ellen says she didn’t know and Larry never told me.
And so I link to this article for those of you who want to understand just why Congress is and will continue to be so responsive to those who fund their campaigns.
(Note: The article linked to above was first posted at The Washington Spectator.)
18 Tuesday Oct 2011
Posted in Articles & Books of Interest
You may have seen over the past year or two that every so often there has been a posting from someone other than moi.
I wanted to make it known to everyone that I am open to posting ‘articles’ from all of you. More than open, I encourage folks to consider writing for MillersTime. You can review movies, books, plays, restaurants, comment on political and social happenings, push an idea, ask or answer a question, describe an interest, write about a trip, a hobby or even something about baseball. You can also send pictures or brag about someone in your family.
