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Related by Blood

May 17, 2014

When we were young, my cousins and I got together at least once a week. We all grew up in big, Italian-Catholic families that were in a constant state of competition — the fathers vying to see who could smoke the most cigarettes, and the mothers to see who could have the most babies. Holidays […]

What to Expect in 2014

December 29, 2013

Predicting the future is a risky thing to do. You’re going to be wrong most of the time, and people – especially your closest friends — will happily point out how far off you were. In 1974, I said Richard Nixon would never resign. Ten years later, I announced that Walter Mondale would defeat Ronald […]

Ebb and Flow

April 24, 2012

I hate talking about the weather. And that’s a problem, because where I live, what’s happening in the atmosphere tends to form the basis for most conversation. The temperature, the lack of rainfall, the blueness of the sky, the level of frost in the ground — it’s incessant, and for me, somewhat bewildering. For one […]

Funnel Vision

April 14, 2012

Predicting the future is a tricky business, and the results are usually less than impressive. Take, for example, all of those world’s fair exhibits that have attempted to portray life even just a couple of decades ahead. What we always get are flying cars, highways devoid of traffic jams, entire meals in a pill, and […]

Keep Quiet and Nobody Has To Get Hurt. Or Sick.

October 19, 2010

I am not superstitious. I want to get that out of the way right up front. My words, thoughts, or actions do not directly affect outside events. No ritual, no matter how perfectly or faithfully performed, is going to alter anything that I would otherwise be unable to change through my own efforts. I am […]

Buy Now, Die Later

June 10, 2010

The July issue of Discover magazine has a full-page ad for a product called Vinotrol, which is supposed to help you live longer. It’s one of those paid advertisements designed to look like a news article, and it refers to various doctors, scientific studies, and of course, researchers at Harvard Medical School. Vinotrol is really […]