Intermarché supermarkets, a chain of grocery stores in France recently offered a 70% discount on Nutella, bringing the price down from €4.50 to €1.40. The result - riot police were called in to control the situation. As one customer put it - "They are like animals. A woman had her hair pulled, an elderly lady took … Continue reading Looking for a Reason to Riot? How about Discounted Jars of Nutella! →

Today the traveling trio (my wife, youngest son, and myself) took a short flight from London to Amsterdam, where the official language is Dutch. This is my first time to be in a country where English is not the default language, and the Netherlands seems to be a nice country in which to experience such … Continue reading My First Visit to a Country Where English Is Not the Official Language →

It's a tale as old as time. A new technology comes along, and parents are worried it is going to ruin their children. The latest culprit is technology - the Internet, smartphones, social media, etc. Many parents set limits on how much time their children can spend with such technology each day. However, a joint … Continue reading Next Thing you Know, Research Will Tell Us That Playing with Legos is Good for Kids →

As I was checking my email today, the daily update from Crain's Philadelphia caught my eye. The top story was about Philly's Top 20 Startups, and then the second story was about a local Philly company that had filed for bankruptcy. I'm not sure if Crain's planned it this way, but having these two articles … Continue reading The Circle of Life in the Business World →

According to a story in the New York Post, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, the largest labor union representing NYPD cops, has cut the number of "get out of jail free" cards it hands out to 20 from 30 for current cops and to 10 from 20 for retired police officers. The cards are reportedly given … Continue reading What If Other Professions Had “Get Out of Jail Free” Cards? →

The past year has been a big one for kindness, as noted in a recent New York Times article. The Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, developed the Kindness Curriculum, in which preschoolers are introduced to a potpourri of sensory games, songs and stories that are designed to help them pay … Continue reading Is Kindness More Important than Grades, and If So, Can It Be Taught? →

We were strolling around Piccadilly today, the only item on our agenda to stop in at Crosstown Doughnuts where they have some of the best doughnuts I have ever tasted, including vegan ones. Anyway, it was a bit of a rainy day so we took our time finishing our tea and doughnuts, and then headed … Continue reading I Turned the Corner and Entered a World of Which I Am Not a Part →

Quartz had a story this week about prisons that ban books, looking at the differences from state to state. The story then offered a closer look at the process used by Pennsylvania to decide whether or not to ban a book, and the reasons for such decisions. I don't understand why there is a process … Continue reading Banning Books in Prison? You’ve Got to Be Kidding! →

We are fortunate to be in London for Lumiere London, a world-class light festival that takes place over four evenings, from Thursday 18 to Sunday 21 January 2018. We are doubly fortunate that some of the major exhibits that are part of the festival are a two-minute walk from our flat. So tonight we took … Continue reading London – City of Lights →

The photo above is an indication of how passengers were greeted as we emerged from the Waterloo Underground - a free 5-ounce can of Heineken (alcohol-free). Of course, my wife, son, and I had to accept the offer, it would have been bad taste to refuse such a gift. I could not tell what controls the … Continue reading You Wouldn’t See This in the U.S. (Well at Least Not in Philly) →