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Posts published in “Essays”

Just Looking, Thanks

It was early in the fall of 1951. There were three of us, in our late teens. We were foolishly trying to drive home in a battered, ready-to-die Chevrolet, all the way to San Francisco…

New York Times: ‘Maybe We Did Screw Up a Little’

On May 26 the New York Times finally hitched up its pants, took a deep breath and issued an editorial declaration of moderate regret for its role in boosting the case for war on Iraq.…

The Beheading Video

Upon hearing of the beheading of Philadelphia "contractor" Nicolas Berg in Iraq by self-proclaimed al Qaeda operatives, I searched the internet for articles on the incident. I found over a hundred news reports, most of…

Germany

There is that old cliché of travel: that it allows the traveller another perspective on the place left behind, the one he may or may not return to. With the rise of the internet and…

The Pentagon as Global Slumlord

The young American Marine is exultant. “It's a sniper's dream,' he tells a Los Angeles Times reporter on the outskirts of Fallujah. “You can go anywhere and there so many ways to fire at the…

The Stories Behind the Stories

Monday’s story began, “A search was suspended Sunday night but is expected to resume today for Antonio Angulo, a North Coast resident who has been missing in the Lake Berryessa area since Wednesday, a spokesman…

The Trough of Love

As you can see, Constance, I’ve decided write down as accurately as I can my thoughts and actions surrounding this latest bout of self-destruction. Several crazy days in San Francisco and New York and counting.…

Bush, Kerry and Empire

As one who regards Gerry Ford as our greatest president (least time served, least damage done, husband of Betty, plus Stevens as his contribution to the Supreme Court) I’d always imagined the man from Grand…

Gooch and the Big Hotel

“I can’t believe it,” Gooch said, after swinging open the polished door to his hotel room. “Imagine you and me, both right here.” I hadn’t seen Gooch in a long-assed time. Not since back in…

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