JOURNAL OF A PLAGUE YEAR #39

Yesterday, we marked the second anniversary of Karen Marcus’s passing; her death from Covid in May, 2020, motivated me to start writing these periodic dispatches from the pandemic front. It’s strange how, in times crowded with events, your perception of...

JOURNAL OF A PLAGUE YEAR # 38

This entry could be titled THE ELEVENTH RUSSIAN. Here’s why: A long time ago, when I was a foreign correspondent assigned to the Chicago Tribune’s Moscow bureau, I met a Finlander at a diplomatic reception. During our conversation, he mentioned that he had fought in...

JOURNAL OF A PLAGUE YEAR # 37

Thought for the day as we embark on Year Three of the pandemic: Even if the Bee could explain to the Fly why pollen is better than shit, the Fly would not understand.  The people to whom it applies should be obvious,

JOURNAL OF A PLAGUE YEAR #36

Today’s journal entry will not be about Covid; it will address the question of whether the United States is on the brink of a second civil war, as some scholars and political commentators believe. Civil war, once unmentionable in our political discourse, has...

JOURNAL OF A PLAGUE YEAR # 35

After a four-day drive across this great and troubled republic, we landed in Arizona on Dec. 6, and found that our county here, Santa Cruz,  geographically the smallest in the state at 1,238 square miles, has the second-highest vaccination rate for one dose — 89...

JOURNAL OF A PLAGUE YEAR # 34

I am reminded of the line from the ads for the sequel to “Jaws” — Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… Just as all of us thought it was safe to unmask and stand closer to each other than six feet and stop washing our hands...

JOURNAL OF PLAGUE YEAR # 33

A couple of weeks ago I rolled up my sleeve and got jabbed with the Pfizer booster shot, which ought to immunize me against Covid for a long time to come. But the virus has taken a back seat as a menace to my health: less than two months ago, I was diagnosed with...

FROM SAIGON TO KABUL

Those interested in reading my take on the disaster in Afghanistan can click on this link to an essay I wrote for Politico magazine. It was published on Aug. 21, 2021. Or you can copy the link and paste it into your browser. LINK:...

JOURNAL OF A PLAGUE YEAR # 32

After a week-long, 2,700-mile drive from Arizona, we arrived back in Connecticut last Tuesday, on time to mark my 80th birthday on Thursday, the 10th. Considering that 600,000 Americans, most in my age-demographic, have died of Covid19 in the past eighteen months,...