Monthly Archives: September 2009

RANK HAD ITS PRIVILEGES—COSMETICS.

RANK HAD ITS PRIVILEGES—COSMETICS. A review in the weekend Wall Street Journal by Brendan Simms of Norman Stone’s WORLD WAR ONE passes on Stone’s information that “Romanian army officers below a certain rank were forbidden to wear make-up.”

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MOE BERG REVISITED.

MOE BERG REVISITED. I posted here on how Moe Berg, a polymath who spent many years in the major leagues as a catcher, went to a lecture by Werner Heisenberg in Switzerland during World War II with instructions to kill … Continue reading

Posted in Baseball, History, Sports | 2 Comments

ONE MORE YEAR AND THEY WILL HAVE COUNTED THE BEANS.

ONE MORE YEAR AND THEY WILL HAVE COUNTED THE BEANS. I have posted a number of times, including here, on my astonishment that the lawyers and accountants for Lehman Brothers approved the contracts they approved. After all, one of the … Continue reading

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NOT RUNNING UP 100 POINTS ON YOUR OPPONENT.

NOT RUNNING UP 100 POINTS ON YOUR OPPONENT. On Friday, I posted on how Mike Francesa and people in Florida were speculating that Florida would score 100 points against Tennessee. In the event, Florida won, but the score was only … Continue reading

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A RESCUE BY A STRANGER.

A RESCUE BY A STRANGER. I have posted several times, including here, on how much random acts of kindness move me. My family, knowing how sentimental I am, will understand why I was moved by the ending of Krishna’s story. … Continue reading

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A JOURNEY IN QUEENS.

A JOURNEY IN QUEENS. This is my favorite magazine story of the year. I say “story” because it has elements of a folk tale. The story is beautifully told by Michael Idov. It’s a classic story of a 53 hour … Continue reading

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RUNNING UP 100 POINTS ON YOUR OPPONENT.

RUNNING UP 100 POINTS ON YOUR OPPONENT. I heard Mike Francesa saying today that there are rumors that Florida is going to try to score 100 points against Tennessee tomorrow. Sure enough, this article in a Florida newspaper says that … Continue reading

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“ARGUABLY THE GREATEST AMERICAN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.”

“ARGUABLY THE GREATEST AMERICAN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.” Gregg Easterbrook says that about Norman Borlaug in this obituary. Upon reflection, I think he’s one of the two greatest Americans of the century.

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IS A WARNING TO READERS NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT?

IS A WARNING TO READERS NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT? I encountered a scary fake antivirus popup over the weekend—one of the kinds if virus that you can’t close without shutting down your computer and losing the sites you were … Continue reading

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“LEHMAN HAD TO DIE POUR ENCOURAGER LES AUTRES.”

“LEHMAN HAD TO DIE POUR ENCOURAGER LES AUTRES.” Since I made the above post, I have read Niall Ferguson’s essay in today’s Financial Times. Ferguson is in full agreement with that post and sums things up this way: “Like the … Continue reading

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