CIVICS TRUMP 2.0 PART 1
ON OCTOBER 20, 2025, THERE’S A NEW CIVICS TEST of naturalization. Well, sorta new. With careful reading, it’s more like “A New Trump Administration Low,” as described here back on … Continue reading
FERRARI 212 VIGNALE SALON AND CLASSIC TEST
I’VE GROWN ENAMORED OF R&T’S CLASSIC TESTS, what the magazine termed accurate syntheses “of material published during the time the car was produced.” Recently, this R&T time machine was actuated … Continue reading
A GREEN IDEA HOUSE
JEFF BRADY DESCRIBES “5 LESSONS FROM A HOUSE That Generates More Energy Than It Uses,” NPR, September 20, 2025. Brady recounts, “Robert Fortunato’s ‘Green Idea House‘ has been doing that … Continue reading
SEVERAL HELPFUL PHRASES
TRUTH IS, I’M NOT REALLY INTO SELF-HELP (this, despite those who might suggest otherwise). However, I was impressed by Catherine Pearson’s “8 Phrases to Help Your Relationship Thrive,” The New … Continue reading
DOES ANYONE BELIEVE TRUMP??
RECENT HAPPENINGS AT THE U.N. and back in Washington, D.C., questioned more than Trump’s truthfulness (climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” inflation “defeated,” grocery prices … Continue reading
A.I. PRIMERS
HERE I MEAN “PRIMERS” in the short-i sense; Merriam-Webster: small books for teaching children to read. And, in the fast-developing world of artificial intelligence, we’re all children needing to learn … Continue reading
BRIBES? LET’S CALL THEM “GIFTS”
I WAS RESEARCHING THE PASSAGE OF CASH in CAVA bags, and what better source than Brewer’s Rogues, Villains & Eccentrics? Brewer’s Rogues, Villains & Eccentrics: An A–Z of Roguish Britons … Continue reading
OPERA AND COLONIALISM PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE BEGAN WITH TIDBITS OF SIMON BANK’S ARTICLE “Terra (In)Cognita” gleaned from Opera with Opera News, the latter a part of my Metropolitan Opera membership. Today in Part 2, … Continue reading
OPERA AND COLONIALISM PART 1
MY LATEST OPERA WITH OPERA NEWS contains “Terra (In)Cognita,” by Simon Banks. He “highlights shifting attitudes towards colonialism as reflected in opera across the centuries.” Surely an interesting topic. Indeed, … Continue reading
THE BIG LIFT AND TRUMP’S DEMOCRACY
TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES RECENTLY SHOWED THE BIG LIFT, a 1950 Hollywood drama centered around the Soviet blockage of Berlin and the allies subsequently successful support of the city by air … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 