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Showing articles in Uncommon Sense
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Memorial Day 2012: Looking Back with Sadness and a Smile
May 17, 2012Monday, May 28, is Memorial Day. For most of us it marks the beginning of summer; it is an extra day off, a day to go shopping, to the...
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Asking Wrong Questions
May 8, 2012Our public debate is too often focused on the wrong questions. In an age of sophisticated public persuasion, it is more importan...
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Spring Green
May 5, 2012As a boy, getting a new box of Crayola crayons was a big event. Getting an eight-crayon box brought limited appreciation; it was...
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A Paean to Nurses
April 10, 2012Suddenly I am awake – surrounded by strangers, highly agitated, and frightened – Where am I? The smiling face of a thin As...
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My Aching Back
March 26, 2012I am now in bed waiting for surgery on my back. The same surgeon who repaired my back twenty years ago will perform the upc...
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My Week In Paradise
March 16, 2012We arrived in Cuba on Thursday, March 8 at 10:30 am or so. Customs was a unique experience. It was indicative of Cuban lif...
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Spring Break in Cuba!
February 29, 2012I am going to Cuba for Spring Break with a group of students from Drew University. We will be on a humanitarian mission to bring...
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No Free Flights
February 22, 2012I thought I would take advantage of a "free trip" to Miami using frequent flier points. I learned, once again, there i...
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Bomb Bomb Iran
February 13, 2012A bombing raid on Iran is becoming more likely every day. Amid an increasing number of articles about an attack on the Iranian n...
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Welcome Back Winter
January 21, 2012It has finally snowed, two months later than it should have, and the forecasters are telling us to expect temps. in the 50s on Monday....
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Giants of My Youth II
January 12, 2012My maternal grandparents, Rose and Lew, were carnival people. I learned from them that you can be both tough and loving; that yo...
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Giants of My Youth
December 29, 2011From time to time something triggers memories of the giants of my youth -- grandparents, aunts, uncles and older cousins. They w...
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So Confused
December 10, 2011I am so confused. When it comes to financial reporting it is as if a foreign language were being spoken. I hear the VIX is...
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Zuccotti Blues
November 18, 2011In 1961, as a sophomore in college, I experienced groups of students holding teach-ins about Vietnam. Fifty years later, young people ...
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Home Sweet Home - Veterans Day 2011
November 9, 2011When I returned home from Vietnam, my father's World War II buddies made me feel as if I had just joined a sacred fraternity. ...
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Together Forever
October 25, 2011Last weekend I was in Washington, DC for a gathering of men with whom I served in Vietnam. I arrived a day early so that I could...
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Wrestling with my Inner Larry David
October 7, 2011One night my wife and I were lying in bed watching our favorite TV show, when she looked over to me and gently said, "You know, y...
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For Whom The Doorbell Tolls (A Guide to Screening Political Candidates)
September 23, 2011The political season traditionally begins on Labor Day. Whether or not it has begun for you depends on how many times your doorb...
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“Buy American Made” on September 15
September 13, 2011Last Thursday, President Obama outlined his plan to put Americans back to work. Regardless of political affiliation or predispos...
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Good Night Irene
September 13, 2011When I drove down Springfield Avenue in Cranford a couple of mornings ago, the curbs were lined with debris from Hurricane Irene...
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Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys
September 13, 2011My wife and I returned to our Summit home from a short vacation last week. Luckily, we arrived home the Thursday before Irene. D...