Today’s entry–after yesterday’s union-busting lawyer Peter Pantaleo–in the City University of New York‘s Board of Trustees Roll of Dishonor is Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld. He is: [A]n investment banker at Bernstein Global Wealth Management, appointed to the Board of Trustees by Gov. Pataki in 1999. Wiesenfeld’s primary qualification for being a trustee is his loyal service toContinue reading “With Trustees Like These, Who Needs Enemies? Part Two”
Monthly Archives: April 2013
With Trustees Like These, Who Needs Enemies? Part One
The City University of New York is a public university. Presumably, its Board of Trustees is staffed by those who have the interests of their constituency–students and teachers–first and foremost. Not so. As faculty and students find out, the Trustees includes many members whose qualifications for this job appear radically antithetical to this university’s mission.Continue reading “With Trustees Like These, Who Needs Enemies? Part One”
On Being Mistaken for a ‘Worker’
Variants of the following situation have, I think, occurred in many people’s lives here in the US. (I have been on both the giving and receiving end, so to speak.) You walk into a store (or perhaps a restaurant), perusing its offerings. You do not find what you need; you are confused; you need assistance.Continue reading “On Being Mistaken for a ‘Worker’”
The Non-Existent Fourth Estate
In his review of W. Sydney Robinson‘s Muckraker: The Scandalous Life and Times of W. T. Stead (‘The Only True Throne’, London Review of Books, 19 July 2012), John Pemble writes ‘Nothing like being an editor for getting a swollen head,’ the Fleet Street veteran A.G. Gardiner wrote in his memoirs. He must have had W.T.Continue reading “The Non-Existent Fourth Estate”
Do Sancho Panzas Trump Don Quixotes?
In Stendhal‘s The Charterhouse of Parma, the Conte says to ‘our hero’ Fabrizio: A half brainless individual, but one who keeps his eyes open and day in day out acts with prudence, will often enjoy the pleasure of triumphing over men of imagination. It was by a foolish error of imagination that Napoleon was led toContinue reading “Do Sancho Panzas Trump Don Quixotes?”
RIP Roger Ebert
I don’t read movie reviews before I see a movie; I read them afterwards. I don’t like running into spoilers and I dislike the idea of not making up my own mind about a movie. Once I’ve seen the movie, I’ve formed an opinion, which remains relatively impervious to the critiques of others. But still,Continue reading “RIP Roger Ebert”
Molière on the Modern Healthcare System
There are times, when overcome by irritation at our modern medical system, which is expensive, run by insurance companies and all too often, populated by doctors who seemingly aspire to ever greater heights of corporate efficiency even as they resolutely neglect their bedside manners and care little about outcomes while ordering an array of expensiveContinue reading “Molière on the Modern Healthcare System”
American Horror Story’s Asylum: Site of Nightmares
American Horror Story‘s second season always promised to be creepier and more effective than the disappointing first season, which began well, but had devolved into a terrible mess by the time its end rolled around. The second season’s ending had its share of disappointments, but it had many fine moments that came before, the episodicContinue reading “American Horror Story’s Asylum: Site of Nightmares”
Land, Ownership, Property, and Nationalism
A few days ago, a dinner-time conversation with some friends turned to the matter of property disputes within families. Both my wife and I spoke with some feeling about the fierce passions they evoked, their seeming intractability, and of course, in the context of modern real estate pressures, their ever-increasing ferocity. It reminded me, yetContinue reading “Land, Ownership, Property, and Nationalism”
Lohocla, The Killer Drug
An extended discussion on Twitter this morning reminded me of a post I once wrote on the Usenet newsgroup alt.drugs. Back in 1990. It’s pretty weak stuff, but I was just having fun then. Here you go: US Government officials are gearing up for might be this country’s worst drug epidemic, rivaling the devastation caused byContinue reading “Lohocla, The Killer Drug”
Samir Chopra 