• Back to the Back

    “Three years ago, a relative was ambling down Arthroplasty Ave. (Arthroplasty means bone replacement, in this case, a hip replacement.) Last year, however, she began loitering in Laminectomy Lane. (The lamina is a…

  • The Grey Ghost

    “We live today in the shadow of one man. Start with today’s headlines: terrorism in Africa and the Mideast. Proximate cause: jihadism. Ultimate cause: the Arab-Israeli conflict. That conflict. Proximate cause: the mistreatment…

  • A More than Bairable Book

    “Sheila Bair, the ex-head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, has written the obligatory apologia pro vita sua (regulatory, that is). Only this book, ‘Bull by the Horns,’ is worth reading; it is…

  • The Lender’s Last Laugh

      “Actually, the word ‘lender’ is a misnomer. Banks don’t really lend much mortgage money. They just originate and package mortgages, buy a government guarantee and then sell in the secondary market to…

  • Lightning Fast

    “Lightning has already visited me. It messed up the guest room—and more. It promises an unannounced, unlooked-for return, trashing the rest of the house. Every day, it tiptoes up my front drive, debating…

  • Sandy & the Stalled Society

    “Hurricane Sandy provided plenty of hardship. But it also furnished a glimmer of hope that people will begin focusing on saving the planet and, in doing so, will cast off the sense of…

  • Inflammation, Not Irritation

    “One medical group in Canada thinks it has found it, and their results have led to a new therapy. Using advanced confocal laser imaging techniques, this group discovered that many people who are…

  • We’ve Already Gone Over the Cliff

    “That many-piped organ, the American press, has gone on a mountaineering spree. Hardly a day passes without some somber, nay, near eschatological, article about the perils of the ‘fiscal cliff.’” Sanford Rose Dolors…

  • Want a Better Brain? Eat Less

    “About 30 percent less. Recent studies suggest that caloric reduction of about this magnitude will not only prolong life, it will also prolong the life of the mind. That’s intuitively obvious. Mind and…

  • Ben Needs a Bigger Helicopter

    “People are still scared. And, being so, they are doggedly sticky-fingered. Money, once created, turns over far more slowly than it did in the past.” Sanford Rose  Dolors& Sense by Sanford Rose KISSIMMEE…