A MISSION IMPOSSIBLE BOOK HEIST
WHAT WITH GLOBAL complexities, the Internet, lawyer highjinks, and business school finesses, malefactors now have enhanced opportunities to evade punishment. On the other hand, malefinders (my new word, with obvious … Continue reading
CHARING CROSS—LONDON’S CENTREPIECE PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE FOUND London’s Charing Cross named for a bend in the River Thames and a cross honoring Eleanor, wife of England’s Edward I. We’d like to believe she’d rest … Continue reading
CHARING CROSS—LONDON’S CENTREPIECE PART 1
CHARING CROSS, LONDON, is sort of New York City’s Times Square, Los Angeles’s Hollywood and Vine, and Paris’s Place de l’Opera. It’s the geographical center, er…, make that centre of … Continue reading
HOPALONG HOPPED ALONG IN LIFE TOO
HOPALONG CASSIDY MAKES regular appearances among other cowboys on SiriusXM’s ”Radio Classics.” I recall him too as a frequent star of Saturday matinee westerns when I was growing up. Always … Continue reading
DOUBLE-NICKEL TIDBITS
“THE DOUBLE-NICKEL,” grandpa explains, as he and the grandkids travel a pandemic-emptied freeway at 80, “was once the National Maximum Speed Limit, 55 mph.” A grandkid says, “55? I drive … Continue reading
LEAPING FOR JOY: EVER GIVEN TIDBITS
THANKFULLY, IT’S NOT every day that a giant container ship gets wedged in the Suez Canal, thus crippling world trade to the tune of billions of dollars. But we can … Continue reading
RICHARD DIAMOND TEACHES ME ABOUT AN EARLIER ERA
I AM ADDICTED to SiriusXM’s “Radio Classics.” Indeed, Wife Dottie says that one day I’ll wake up in 1944 and get all nerdy about our Ration Book’s missing red stamps … Continue reading
ON OTHERWORDLY EVOLUTION
Do Darwin’s evolutionary theories describe life elsewhere in the universe? Are we already surpassing Darwin’s model here at home? These heady thoughts are prompted by gleanings from The London … Continue reading
THE ANTONOV AN-2—A CLASSIC SOVIET
AIRCRAFT, BY VIRTUE of their technology and engineering, are sleek and well-finished. Unless they’re the Antonov An-2, affectionately known as the “Aннушка,” “Annushka,” “Annie.” Close up, an Aннушка looks like … Continue reading
EARTHQUAKES—“CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?”
WHAT WITH the Earth’s surface being three-quarters water, oceanic research is essential to understanding our world. However, such monitoring is especially difficult to deploy and maintain. Science magazine, published weekly … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 