For the younger ones who don’t remember it, this is their “9/11” moment. For baby boomers, this is an echo of their Cuban missile crisis shock. For the Greatest Generation, fast passing […]
We can do it, but for how long?
Coronavirus means big financial drain
By Jim Tortolano The coronavirus pandemic may not last more than a few more months but the economic impact could go on for years. That was a large part of the presentation […]
Retorts: Cut your anxieties short
“When you lose your ability to laugh, you lose your ability to think straight.” – Jerome Lawrence. When you join a military unit one of the first things you lose – in […]
Retorts: The post-coronavirus world
The news is usually about things that have already happened, which means by the time you read about it, it’s either in the past or the situation has changed. There’s nothing wrong […]
Stick it to virus by sticking to rules
“These are the times that try men’s souls.” – Thomas Paine, 1777. “Get outta my way! That’s my pack of toilet paper!” – contemporary American, 2020. OK, maybe that’s too hard on […]
Another crisis that we will survive
It’s unprecedented. At least for the last 60 years or so. The coronavirus crisis has hit the world and Orange County in a way unlike anything since the Cuban Missile Crisis. That […]
This just in: some things are improving
In this era of exotic viruses from China, deep political divisions, out-of-control fires and eyebrow-rising Super Bowl halftime shows, it might look like our world is going to Heck in a shopping […]
Retorts: Being loud doesn’t mean right
We are in the midst of one of the great historical moments of the 21st century: the impeachment trial of the President of the United States. So, Jim, what do you think? […]
Retorts: We have our own “slanguages”
You don’t have to be enrolled in a “dual language immersion class” to know more than one language. In fact, most of us know at least three or four. Of course, there’s […]
Retorts: Getting ahead of retail curve
It is – as James Baldwin said – “the evidence of things not seen.” Sometimes what’s not there, or visible, can reveal more than what your eyes can detect. This is the […]
