Both of my parents were of immigrant families in America. Neither had more then a modest grade school education. Dad lied about his age, left school and went to work at 15 years old in the coal mines of Coleman, Alberta for the International Coal and Coke Ltd company. Each miner was given a metal number they wore around their neck to identify them in case of injury or death and to indicate whether they were in the mine or…
I've just finished reading a book by Michael J. Sandel: Justice What’s the right thing to do. The entire book is well written, but here two passages about things I thought particularly of interest. The first deals with the tobacco giant Phillip Morris. The present governor of Washington asked me to be lead counsel in litigation against the tobacco industry when she was Attorney General. After a two and a half month jury trial there was a national settlement, but…
A book I thoroghouly enjoyed was Lawrence Grobel's book: Houstons The life and times of a Hollywood dynasty. There are many parts of this book worth telling about, but here are a few that I found particularly interesting. Mr. Grobel writes of John Houston's admiration of the heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey. Dempsey had come out of a small mining town to become a world famous fighter. Dempsey became the heavyweight champion in 1919 shen he knocked out Jess Willard in the third round after…
The Cliveden hotel (pronounced CLIV-d’n) is unique. It is one of the world’s finest luxury hotels located in the heart of the Berkshire countryside outside of London, near Heathrow Airport, and surrounded by 376 acres of gardens and parklands. The River Thames runs through the property. The former home of Nancy Astor, guests have included every British monarch since George the I as well as Charlie Chaplin, Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt. This five star hotel is a Victorian three story…
It sounds like such a good deal – the proverbial free lunch regarding Initiative 1098. My friend Bill Gates Sr looks so sincere in those ads and what he says is compelling. You vote for a state income tax on the rich and your property taxes go down and schools benefit plus the only ones that get taxed are the few wealthy. Everyone else gets off "scot free" so let's stick it to the wealthy – right? Well, you remember the classic …
While we were in Europe I read an article from London by John F. Burns about a woman who died there September 2nd. Eileen Nearne, known as Didi , had volunteered, in World War II, to join the Special Operations Executive, a wartime agency known as "Churchill’s secret army." It consisted of some 14,000 agents who were recruited to conduct espionage behind enemy lines during the war. She was born on March 15, 1921 into an Anglo-Spanish family that moved to…
We ate another unique meal with breakfast. We were given a wooden, rectangle shaped, tray with six small cups. Inside of each was a different food, like a yogurt, and each was unique tasting and very good. There was a plate with thin ham, small sausage and small cuts of cheese with a small tomato on top. Everything was unusual and an adventure to eat. A very unusual kitchen and chef. After breakfast we walked the narrow stone road down…
It is a three hour drive from Saint Martin to Saint Emilion. Most of it on an autobahn like freeway. The entire drive was through farm and unimproved land. As we got off the freeway and closer to our destination many large and small vineyards began to appear. Some very beautiful chateaus were seen more often. The road became narrow. A two lane asphalt road without shoulders until we finally arrived at tiny Saint Emilion. We said good by to…
The Ile de Re is a small island off of the city of La Rochelle southeast of Paris. It is 14 miles long and only 4 miles wide. It is nearly flat. Our hotel is in St Martin, the island’s capital, and is a fishing port with white washed houses and a protected harbor. Fifteen minutes away is La Flotte which is regarded as one of the most beautiful villages in France. It, too, is a small port and fishing…
