Given that I earn a living as a journalist, you can call me a professional observer. A set of properly working eyeballs attends this occupation, and mine requires eyeglasses for optimal performance.
Tag Archives: newsstand
Ash Borer: The Bug That’s Eating America
To walk down a street in Midland, Mich., this summer is to witness a scene of mass carnage: row upon row of tree stumps with just a scattering of sawdust around them. This trail of destruction is the work not of tornadoes or of man but of a voracious beetle known as the emerald ash borer, first found in the U.S
The Price of Honor
Sirhan, a 35-year-old murderer, is cheerful and relaxed and happy to tell his story. He’s especially proud to describe the efficiency with which he shot his young sister Suzanne in the head four times last March.
Lars Kepler’s New Book: The Hypnotist
I’ve never been a big fan of Stieg Larsson’s work.
Life After High School
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. wrote about many scary things: the firebombing of Dresden, the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the specter of individuals controlled by the state or by technology
Iran: Where Politics is a Distraction from Making Money
Judging by the front pages of Persian language newspapers neatly laid out at every Tehran newsstand, political scandal is in the air. President Ahmadinejad’s closest aides, including right-hand man Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, are being accused of embezzlement, cronyism, collaboration with opposition forces, and even pagan rituals thrown in for shock value.
10 Questions for Rudy Giuliani
What was your first reaction to the news?
When Terror Loses its Grip
It is a bizarre historical coincidence.
Adding Up the iPhone
Apple’s long-awaited white iPhone 4, which hit stores April 28, is expected to be another smash for Steve Jobs.
Where Victory Lies
Of all the revelations, this is the conversation I remember from a September day almost 10 years ago. I was driving home from school with my daughters; they were 4 and almost 7, and the news a few days after the attacks was relentlessly grim: body counts and a smoking, toxic ruin and cars unclaimed at suburban train stations because Mom or Dad never came home from work that day