Ray Bradbury is dead. For the past twenty years I have dreaded writing those words. The effusive homages to a man who was arguably America's greatest living writer are in full flood; this is one of the few times they are deserved. Although personally unassuming and approachable, he has had a ...
If all goes as planned, May 19 will see the SpaceX ship blast off to resupply the International Space Station, marking NASA's official opening of space to private enterprise. In SpaceX's wake, several private corporations are entering this mercantile space race"all to compete initially both for ...
During Benedict XVI's recent trip to Cuba, the brothers Castro tumbled out to meet the pontiff. But there was another noted visitor to Cuba at the same time"one there for cancer treatment who may or may not have met with Benedict"Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Chávez, who has ...
March 28 saw a springtime ritual that rivals or even surpasses Easter in many Americans" hearts: The baseball season opened. Despite the many differences"real and imaginary"between LA and the rest of the country, in this area we are as American as apple pie. Los Angeles loves its ...
My fascination with Afghanistan"especially the area now called Nuristan but originally Kafiristan"was first sparked by watching The Man Who Would Be King at Grauman's Chinese Theatre back in 1975. The film brought to my attention the mysterious Kafirs and their still pagan cousins in ...
California must be the most geographically diverse state in the Union. From Mount Shasta to Death Valley, from Big Sur to Yosemite, we have everything. If you"re homesick for Kansas, we can even offer the Central Valley. But all of this treasure obscures a sad reality: We have perhaps the ...
All of the chatter about the euro obscures another important news item out of the mother continent: the reaction in Europe and the United States to the new Hungarian Constitution which took effect January 1. The brainchild of the ruling conservative Fidesz Party, the document replaces the 1949 ...
Downton Abbey"s popularity in the United States comes as little shock to those who remember the early 1970s" Upstairs, Downstairs craze. In a word, the show's popularity is fueled by nostalgia. That word came to mind again a few days ago while enjoying the Weimar-styled antics of Max Raabe ...
A restaurant called Taboo is one my favorite haunts in one of my favorite American cities, Palm Beach, FL. After years of occasional visits, I noticed I was inevitably ushered into the same section. When a local throwaway newspaper featured "A Sociological Map of Taboo," I realized I was ...
Slaving and whaling dominated New England shipping prior to the Civil War. When the slave trade became illegal in 1808, fewer profits rolled into Yankee coffers. As slave-trade revenues decreased, abolitionist fervor in New England increased. To take up the financial slack, the whaling trade ...
