One of the things I like about the Wall Street Journal is that it's not all business. It has a Sports page, a weekly "Mansion" section, a daily Life & Arts section, and its famous front page A-Hed stories. The paper has fashion reviews (which I consider the comic page), a weekly arts and entertainment … Continue reading Add One More Item to the List of Things I Will Never Do →

The following blurb from the Metro UK newspaper caught my eye the other day: "A French baker has been fined £2,600 for 'working too hard' by selling bread every day. Cedric Vaivre, 41, broke labour laws in Lusigny-sur-Barse by not having a rest day." That seems like such a foreign concept, both literally and figuratively, … Continue reading The French Seem to Have It Right →

It was one of my favorite songs as a teenager, Three Dog Night's "Never Been to Spain". Well I never been to Spain But I kinda like the music Say the ladies are insane there And they sure know how to use it They don't abuse it Never gonna lose it I can't refuse it … Continue reading I Can Never Sing the First Two Verses of This Song Again →

The Evening Standard, one of London's daily newspapers, had a great story the other day about a public high school school in London that went from being one of the worst in Britain to one of the best, in just four short years. While it was certainly a team effort between the administrators, the teachers, … Continue reading The Power of Leadership, Hard Work, and One Person →

Nearly every day I walk past a neighborhood that appears to be some form of low-income public housing. I am sure when the units were first built that they were attractive and clean, and people were excited to move into them. Now, the units are starting to show their age, and it's become more obvious, … Continue reading Not So Hidden Fences and the Broken Window Theory →

It makes sense. If you want to meet people, you need to go where there are people. And if there's one place that is able to draw a fairly regular crowd, it's got to be a grocery store. After all, people need to eat. And whether they are buying the ingredients to make their own … Continue reading Looking for Love in the Produce Section →

A couple of months ago I posted some short videos I had taken of several London buskers. I continue to be fascinated and entertained by such performers, and I thought I would share a few more short videos I've taken of these street entertainers. Some bagpipe playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFpuo7v5Mxo A guitar player at midnight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RB1GiMVrZ8 Some … Continue reading More Buskers from London →

Today was a big day for many high school students around the country as they sat for the SAT exam. The results of the exam often play a significant, perhaps oversized role, in deciding what college a student attends. Standardized tests have come under a lot of fire in recent years, and come colleges have … Continue reading Dispelling Some Myths about the SAT and ACT – Taken with a Grain of Salt →

Shareholders at Disney voted down a nonbinding endorsement of the compensation given to Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Iger following an increase in December. About 52% of votes cast at the company’s annual meeting expressed displeasure with Mr. Iger’s new pay package. And how big was that pay package? Iger's new deal—tied to performance targets and … Continue reading What’s the Big Deal? It’s Only $100 Million… →

Joanna Stern had a fascinating, and helpful, article in today's Wall Street Journal. The article took a look at how much Facebook knows about you, and can then use that knowledge to push targeted ads to you on while you are online. One story she told was particularly intriguing. Most of us have experienced the … Continue reading Facebook Knows What You’re Doing, Even Offline →