Inflection Point Somewhere in the sprawling vastness of Manhattan , Christopher “Ryan” Henry, the OSD Principle Deputy Undersecretary for Policy, was addressing an exclusive gathering of senior executives from the private sector. I was in Mid-town at that very moment, walking from Penn Station up 7 th Avenue toward the Algonquin Hotel. I was in […]

Christmas Carol I heard the President quite by accident last night. I was doing something else, cleaning up from dinner after the Washington Redskins trounced the hated Cowboys. The Simpsons were coming up, an all-new episode, when something happened. The Boys had been fooling with the remote control as we watched the game. I’m old […]

Too Hot It is cold in Washington , but in the context of the calamities of this year, I can deal with that. At the moment, things are fairly calm, no Tsunamis or Hurricanes, and thankfully even Congress finally went home, leaving us alone on the suddenly quiet streets of the District. That is the good news, but I […]

Little Pitchers Children hear and understand more than you think they do. I know that from hard experience as a parent, and they often reach conclusions that may be accurate though inconvenient. That is true with a friend of mine, and it has been true for a long time. “Little pitchers have big ears,” goes […]

Outsourcing Nobody is talking about the coming plague much today. There is so much else in play and much at stake. The Iraqis are going to be voting, and there will probably be fewer suicide attacks, since travel by automobile is banned. That can’t go on for long, of course, since goods must be distributed. […]

Charlie Horse That Charlie is as strong as a Clydesdale. He has been in the federal harness for 47 years, analyzing and collecting information on the enemies of the United States . He appears in a Harvard JFK School of Government Case Study of the Achilles Lauro hi-jacking. I was sitting in class up at […]

Sky Box I don’t know if they are going to execute gang-leader Stanley “Tookie” Williams tomorrow, or if the Syrians are responsible for the latest assassination in Beirut , or if the terrorists are responsible for the tremendous blast at the fuel depot near Heathrow Airport outside London . I have not been paying that […]

Late Start The Federal Government is starting two hours late this morning, which means we are just that much less vulnerable. The snow that remains from the sharp blizzard last night is heavy and crusted and already going back to water. The Kids are going to have to act fast if they are going to […]

Human Capital Twenty-five years ago today, John Lennon was shot and killed outside The Dakota, his apartment building at One West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan . The Dakota was a logical choice for the famous couple. It offered enhanced security, a bakery and wine cellar, all the amenities and a […]

Oil Slick They say that the hull integrity of the battleship Arizona is going to fail one of these days, and that will be a disaster. She has always leaked a few drops of black oil, the stuff they used in those days. It is worse than DFM- diesel fuel marine- which is what the […]