Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

Monthly Archives: November, 2017

CELEBRATING THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PART 2

BY THE 1870s, the Associated Press had expanded considerably from five New York City daily papers protecting themselves against a potential telegraph monopoly on news. Today, we pick up the … Continue reading

November 19, 2017 · Leave a comment

CELEBRATING THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PART 1

DESPITE PRESIDENTIAL carping to the contrary, I trust the Associated Press, Reuters, and Bloomberg, and even a “failing” newspaper like The New York Times, or “Jeff Bezos’s” The Washington Post. … Continue reading

November 18, 2017 · 2 Comments

ON BEING RORSCHACHED AND OTHERWISE TESTED

IN THIRD Grade, I had a Rorschach. No, my mother didn’t have me tested. The Cleveland Board of Education did, as part of its innovative Major Work Class, a kinda … Continue reading

November 17, 2017 · Leave a comment

LAUGHING OUT LOUD

WHAT WITH one thing and another there days, I still laugh out loud now and then. This is more than just a chortle with schadenfreude, albeit internally, over some foible … Continue reading

November 16, 2017 · Leave a comment

DISCORD WITH THE DEMISE OF DRIVING

THE ENTIRE Sunday magazine of The New York Times, November 12, 2017, is devoted to “Life After Driving.” Perhaps this is no big deal for those living in the Big … Continue reading

November 15, 2017 · 2 Comments

DETSKOYE SELO (PARKS AND PALACES) LENINGRAD, 1934

IT MAY seem odd that in 1934 the Leningrad Soviet would have a Park and Palace Department. Indeed, it did and, what’s more, it published a tidy little guidebook in … Continue reading

November 14, 2017 · Leave a comment

PHIL JORDAN—PETROGRAD, 1917 PART 2

PHIL JORDAN was a working man caught up in one of the cataclysmic events of the 20th century: the Russian Revolution. He also wrote letters home. Yesterday, I provided introduction … Continue reading

November 13, 2017 · Leave a comment

PHIL JORDAN—PETROGRAD, 1917 PART 1

PHIL JORDAN was an American residing in Russia during cataclysmic times. His job at the American embassy in Petrograd brought him into direct contact with the Russian people and their … Continue reading

November 12, 2017 · 2 Comments

IS IT SAFE OR UNSAFE? WHO SAYS?

IT HAS been said that Britain and the United States are two nations separated by a common language. I’ve recently learned another significant difference, this one in the principles of … Continue reading

November 11, 2017 · 4 Comments

TRADE IMBALANCES: THE U.S., CHINA, THE EU, THE WORLD

“WHO CAN blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens? I give China great credit.” So proclaimed the U.S. president … Continue reading

November 10, 2017 · Leave a comment