Keith McNally: Fanfare For The Uncommon Man

I stumbled upon Keith McNally’s memoir in my usual awkward, almost bumbling fashion. I happened to be in New York City with a friend. I had long promised to take her to Balthazar for breakfast. Four empty tables away sat a man alone with his laptop and a book. Astonished that he sat at a table for so long without being gently prodded to get on with it to make room for the next guest, I struck up a conversation.

 


Laughter As Medicine

Although he died more than 35 years ago at the age of 75, Norman Cousins’ bestselling memoir, “Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient” is still regarded as a groundbreaking classic for its emphasis on a holistic approach to healing, with one especially important takeaway being the importance of laughter as a significant part of the healing process.


Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

Over the past months, we’ve examined several cabinet level departments, and their performance against mission. Our examination of departments inside Homeland Security (DHS) focused primarily on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protections (CBP).  In the coming months, we’ll be looking closely at the cabinet level Departments of Defense and State, given the recent declarations of military action in South America and Iran, then look at other key DHS departments like FEMA and CISA.


Art: Fish Shop by Georges-Henri Fauvel

French Artist Georges-Henri Fauvel (1861–1930) had a penchant for painting royal dogs, especially hunting dogs. His Fish Shop is a radical departure from his usual repertoire. He was probably paid handsomely by patrons for painting their beloved hounds. What made him paint “Fish Shop” is anyone’s guess. These fish ladies were undoubtedly deemed to be less valuable than dogs.


Pen Densham’s Cinematic Nature Photography Pulses With Life

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Pen Densham believes a single photograph can vibrate with the same energy as a movie — stirring the same instincts, emotions, and wonder to make us feel profoundly alive.  In Pen Densham new body of impressionist nature photography, he uses his camera to create images that shimmer with joy, vitality, and in what he describes as the biological instincts of being alive. 


The Rich, RICO and The Godfather

Remember The Godfather? Don Vito Corleone was ruthless, but he had a good heart and a sense of fair play. Italian immigrants were treated unfairly in America and called Wops, Dagos, Greaseballs. The Mafia took root and grew in America, so people could make a living. The way Don Corleone worked with the five families is the same way Jeffrey Epstein worked with the Elite.


Total Eclipse of the Moon March 3, 2026

A total eclipse of the Moon will be visible to everyone in North America early in the morning of March 3, 2026.  The good news is that total eclipses of the Moon are very democratic – easy to spot, perfectly safe to look at, and not requiring any special equipment to see.  The unfortunate thing is that all the time zones will see the eclipse in the “middle of the night” – which might lead to some very tired co-workers or students coming in the next morning.


Conservatives Be Cautious: Serfdom Could Lie Ahead

If conservatives accept President Donald Trump’s agenda to dismantle our republic’s laws and principles, they could go down The Road to Serfdom, as Friedrich A. Hayek’s book title suggests. Hayek, an Austrian-British economist and Nobel laureate, believed that “the system of private property is the most important guarantee of freedom.” Any constraints on the exchange of property in the marketplace lead to socialism, which he considered a form of totalitarianism.