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The Imprudent Child
Billy is about to receive a large inheritance, but he isn’t good with money. A trust can help, as explained in this 1990 column.
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The North Coast
Last September Francie and I cruised the length of the Norwegian coast, starting down from the top. Half of that trip is north of the Arctic Circle, including Hammerfest, where I joined The Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society.
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Magnanimity in Victory
The correct attitude for a victor who wants to avoid a repetition of a war is to abandon any thought of revenge, however monstrous have been the acts of the defeated.
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English Family and Place Names
The British like to shrink words and let the pronunciation drift around a bit. The metamorphoses are unpredictable: you just have to know. Can you say Abergavenny?
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My Favorite Restaurant
My cantine has books in the window whose authors are also customers. The patronne is likely to pull up to your table and chat, and likes to introduce regulars to each other.
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Report from Ukraine
Ukraine should be vigorously taking defensive measures while it asks for help. The Russian bear is at the door, and it’s hungry.
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Global Cooling And Other Wobbly Prophecies
Since things change so violently, one must take many predictions with a grain of salt. Stay loose!
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“Putin Has Knocked the Pieces off the Board”
The Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, explains what we can do about it.
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Killing Fewer Patients
Doctors insert tubes–catheters–into patients’ veins about 5 million times a year, sometimes with lethal results. A simple checklist has caused the infection rate to plunge.
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Maybe Things Aren’t All That Bad
Objective conditions have improved in recent decades. Life expectancy is up, poverty and crime are down, the rule of law is spreading, and life is getting better in other ways.
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Jargon Central
The (London) Times Literary Supplement likes to hold up gobbledygook for contempt. Here are some examples.
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The Most Horrible Consistory on Record
As we contemplate the approaching consistory to elect a successor to Benedict XVI, it is consoling to read about the one that elected Celestine IV in the thirteenth century as Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick, besieged Rome. Abusive guards herded ten Cardinals into a dilapidated room, without proper food or doctors.
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Dressing the Part
Just before the 1974 crash, and again in the 2000s, young folk who were getting richer by the minute saw no reason to dress up or to look serious. Now, the dress-down phenomenon is starting to fade again. Handling other people’s savings is a serious matter, and those who do it should try to look…
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Vampires
By Francie Train (Partially excerpted from her book “In Those Days”) When I was about 10, I was a precocious and voracious reader and, urged on by my devilish older brother, George, I devoured, if that is the appropriate word, the entire book. Now, more than 70 years later, many scary details… are still vivid…
Reflections on life, love, art, money, statecraft