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News & Book Reviews — Page 29

Report from Marseilles

There were hundreds, hundreds, more than I have ever seen, of sailing boats and other boats in the marina in the middle of Marseilles’s downtown, a sign of enormous wealth and privilege. But the rest of the city was disturbing.  More than once I was jostled more closely than normal and I clutched my BaggaliniContinue reading “Report from Marseilles”

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Digital Slaves – The Discipline of Money

I’m reading a book, Who Owns the Future?, by the “father of virtual reality,” Jeron Lanier. His starting point is stated in the “prelude.” “…digital networking ought to promote a two-way transaction, in which you benefit, concretely, with real money….  I want digital networking to cause more value from people to be on the books,Continue reading “Digital Slaves – The Discipline of Money”

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Report from Provence: Trains

The case for trains: 10 reasons for, 1 against, 1 neutral. The trip to the station is short and cheap. The number of train cars is flexible, accommodating holidays, rush hours, etc. The chances of becoming deathly ill in the petrie dish known as an airline cabin are erased. You can stand up and moveContinue reading “Report from Provence: Trains”

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Report from Paris: III Mostly Toilets

Today I will write mostly about toilets. I’ve seen quite a few in my time, beginning with outhouses and holes-in-the-ground in the Maine woods in the 50s, but today will begin with the most amazing toilet I’ve ever seen, a public toilet on the streets of Paris. It is an oblong building, with a drinkingContinue reading “Report from Paris: III Mostly Toilets”

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Report from Paris: Art, Toilets, Poetry

Art and artists Today we walked for about five hours and at the end I felt like a novice in boot camp. It was worth it – the street music was fantastic, and we ate in the restaurant “Le Train Bleu” at the Gare de Lyons. It was ornate and a bit pretentious, but weContinue reading “Report from Paris: Art, Toilets, Poetry”

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Report from Paris: Art, Toilets, Poetry

Report from Paris: Poetry, I am in Paris. I didn’t want to come . I envisioned walking through museums viewing paintings that I had known (or near enough) for decades. Sigh. It would be fine. I wanted to be out in the country, enjoying the dry summer heat, or the cool summer breezes, in touchContinue reading “Report from Paris: Art, Toilets, Poetry”

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Giving Up Baby – Montclair Stories – Susan

Giving Up Baby – Susan   Some of my women freshman students at Montclair State University chose abortion as the subject for one of their essays. As glibly as saying you can get takeout when you don’t feel like cooking, my students advised women in a crisis pregnancy to consider giving their babies up forContinue reading “Giving Up Baby – Montclair Stories – Susan”

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Giving Up Baby – Montclair Stories – Miriam

I graduated from Montclair High School in 1959, and here are the stories of two women who graduated around the same time – both of them became pregnant shortly after high school and gave up their babies for adoption.  The first story is about a childhood friend, Miriam. As young girls, Miriam and I gallopedContinue reading “Giving Up Baby – Montclair Stories – Miriam”

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Losing connections

We are renting a condominium right on the water at Sea Ranch, about 150 miles above San Francisco. I have been going to sleep when I get tired instead of when a particular television program ends, usually about 9:30 or 10:00. In the early morning, I turn over in my bed and look at theContinue reading “Losing connections”

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