On Monday morning I was on a plane returning home from San José, California to Phoenix, Arizona. Sitting next to me on the plane was a young woman of about age 20 or so. My guess is that she was a college student. I brought along a paperback book to read to pass the time of the 2-hour flight. As soon as she sat down, she started texting furiously on her cell phone until the announcement came over the P.A. system to turn off all mobile communication devices. Once we were in the air, the first ... read more

In recent years it has been the fashion — especially among younger people — to wear jeans with holes in them. When I was a kid, my parents got me a new pair of jeans at the beginning of the school year in September, and that pair of pants had to last for the rest of the year until the following autumn. If I wore through them before then, my Mom would patch them. Fast forward to my adulthood. I continue to wear jeans, and I continue to make them last as long as I can. They usually wear out a... read more

L'ancien président péruvien Fujimori condamné à sept ans et demi de prison
LEMONDE.FR avec AFP et Reuters | 20.07.09 | 21h45 • Mis à jour le 20.07.09 | 21h59


L'ancien président du Pérou Alberto Fujimori a été condamné à sept ans et demi de prison, lundi 20 juillet à Lima, pour une affaire de corruption pendant son mandat entre 1990 et 2000. Reconnu coupable de détournement de fonds publics, M. Fujimori était poursuivi pour le versement illégal de 15 millions de dollars à son bras droi... read more

Just finished reading AMERICAN THEOCRACY, by Kevin Phillips (2006). The author explores the influences of religion, oil, and indebtedness on American politics, government, and society. Phillips began his career analyzing the emergence on the Republican party as a national political force after the presidential candidacy of Barry M. Goldwater (1964) and Ronald Reagan (1980). In this book, his primary emphasis is on the Bush dynasty, and its presidents George H.W. Bush (1989-1993) and George W.... read more

Just got finished reading THE MAN BEHIND THE MICROCHIP: ROBERT NOYCE AND THE INVENTION OF SILICON VALLEY, by Leslie Berlin. The book was an excellent "read." Noyce was a brilliant physicist, inventor, manager, executive, and P.R. guy. He achieved the very heights in almost everything that he did, and won accolades from many sources. Yet his family life was not entirely happy, and in the end he may have felt that he had not fully been a positive parental role model to his four children. This b... read more