John Train Broadside

Category: All

  • Necessities

    In previous centuries one couldn’t travel light. Our forbears came prepared.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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?

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Global Cooling And Other Wobbly Prophecies

    Since things change so violently, one must take many predictions with a grain of salt. Stay loose!

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Jargon Central

    The (London) Times Literary Supplement likes to hold up gobbledygook for contempt. Here are some examples.

  • 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.