There I was in a comfortable chair, dressed nicely (as I wanted to look like the lawyer I was and not whatever it is I’ve become), and a beautiful woman held a mirror up to my face and bid me to look at myself with an objectivity I rarely muster. She was a doctor, a … Continue reading The Man in the Mirror
Which Side Do You Sleep On?
A friend recently informed me, in the midst of a conversation about something else (snoring, probably), that we all should be sleeping on our left sides. Why? I asked, startled that there was such a binary rule of life of which I’d never heard. “For your heart,” she replied. Ever a borderline hypochondriac, I tucked … Continue reading Which Side Do You Sleep On?
What Am I Doing Here?
Most of us don’t get to choose where we find ourselves. The reasons are multifold…we live where can make a living, or where an ailing relative lives, or where our grandkids are growing up too fast and we don’t want to miss it. But many of us do have that choice, and the number of … Continue reading What Am I Doing Here?
Longevity Politics and the Coming Boomer Doom
In my speculative novel Lifers, longevity suddenly explodes, and very old people begin to overpopulate the globe, creating a host of social and political problems, including housing shortages, the crash of social welfare programs, and a drastic reduction in intergenerational transfers of wealth. In the book, which is set in the near future, people call it … Continue reading Longevity Politics and the Coming Boomer Doom
“Lifers” breaks rank
Pleased to note that my speculative novel about the consequences of engineered longevity, Lifers, today broke into the top 100,000 in sales rankings on Amazon, putting it near the top 1% of book sales on that platform. Thank you, dear readers, and please keep it up by spreading the word! Reviews on Amazon are a big … Continue reading “Lifers” breaks rank
Space Boy Redux
As Artemis II speeds through the void, memories of other moon missions return, and with them this post from July, 2019 In the summer of 1969 I was almost twenty, between my sophomore and junior years of college, and working as a greenskeeper’s assistant at a public golf course in a remote suburb of Pittsburgh. … Continue reading Space Boy Redux
The “Longevity Imperative” for Higher Ed
"Ageism is a prejudice against your future self, an act of future self-harm which life expectancy trends are making ever more likely.” Four years ago, I wrote here "A Modest Proposal to Save Higher Ed", in which I argued that the economic challenges being faced by liberal arts colleges due to declining applicant pools and increased … Continue reading The “Longevity Imperative” for Higher Ed
Law and Learning Leaders Need to Say No
In the tumult of distractions and insults fomented by the Trump administration, it’s hard to know where to focus one’s anxiety. But there are two cultural institutions so central to my adult life and instrumental in shaping who we are as a society that to see them under systematic assault prompts personal pain: the legal … Continue reading Law and Learning Leaders Need to Say No
A Brief History of Трuмпостан (Trumpostan)
Few of us perceived the glorious horizon that had opened up to the citizens of what is now Трuмпостан (Trumpostan) when Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as President of the then United States. As we approach another Trumpostan Liberation Day, we must remind ourselves that it was only a few short years ago that President … Continue reading A Brief History of Трuмпостан (Trumpostan)
A Requiem for Duty, Redux
When, after the 2020 election, Mitch McConnell proclaimed that Donald Trump had every right to question the outcome of the presidential election in court, I tried to react like the lawyer I am. McConnell was of course correct; any fool can file almost any claim whatsoever, no matter how flimsily grounded, in some court or … Continue reading A Requiem for Duty, Redux