Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
Saw this quote from Christian inspirational writer William Arthur Ward on, of all places, Foreign Policy's website: The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. In the spirit of what I've been seeing on Facebook lately, we should want to know what the opportunist would do. …
Continue reading "The Optimist, Pessimist and Opportunist Square Off Again"
One of the many things that separates me from my contemporaries is the fact that I played soccer in junior high (that designation dates me!) and high school. Today soccer is de rigeur for people growing up in these United States, but until, say, the late 1970's that wasn't the case. A good deal of …
Continue reading "The Value of Failure: A Lesson From Soccer"
Some things don't change in Palm Beach: Before sunrise Thursday, just a handful of customers were waiting outside the new Palm Beach Publix, scheduled to open at 7 a.m. By 6:50 a.m. the crowd had grown to about 50 people. That’s when store manager Nick Abiusi decided to let the throng in, handing them the …
Publix has cleared yet another hurdle in its process to re-open its Palm Beach store: The new Palm Beach Publix was issued a conditional certificate of occupancy Wednesday from the Town’s Planning, Zoning and Building Department. The store was inspected Tuesday and late last week. “This essentially means that the project is substantially complete,” said …
One day while growing up in Palm Beach, I stopped to visit my grandmother. As I’ve documented numerous times on this blog, I frequently found myself on the wrong end of Palm Beach’s brutal social system (well, the young part of it, at least.) In response to my complaints about the place, she, in some …
Yes, he does: Biden told the group of rabbis that he’s had disagreements with President Barack Obama over some of the language that he uses regarding Israel, said Klein, a Democrat who represented Congressional District 22, which includes Palm Beach. “I will defend, down to my last breath that this administration has one of the …
Well, in Palm Beach, at least: Wander along Worth Avenue, Rodeo Drive or Fifth Avenue and you’d be hard-pressed to even think America has a soaring poverty rate. But it does. Whether high-enders want to acknowledge it or not our poverty rate has been climbing for the past few years, according to the Census Bureau. …
Continue reading "Even Those at the Top Know We Have a Poverty Problem"
The recent move The Help has focused a great deal of attention on the whole relationship between wealthy white people (and "wealthy" is a relative term) and their black domestic help. The movie (at least, I haven't read the book) cuts across many stereotypes on every side of the issue. And it's always dangerous in …
A few "snowbirds" are finding this out the hard way: Palm Beacher Jessie Araskog said Saturday she and her husband, Rand, decided to evacuate their Southampton home and get a suite at the St. Regis hotel in Manhattan. “We are all boarded up and ready for the storm," Araskog said. Jessie Araskog said her daughter, …
Continue reading "After the Palm Beach Season: Sometimes It Pays to Stay on the Island"
Literally, in this case: Dozens came to the Lake Trail on the north end of Palm Beach begin their Father’s Day with a bang. The 8:30 a.m. Sunday demolition of the 300 foot smokestacks and the boilers at the Florida Power and Light power plant across the Intercoastal Waterway in Riviera Beach drew curious families …
Positive Infinity 