Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
In the world of commerce, Wal-Mart is a phenomenon unto itself. In 15 countries, it attracts 200 million customers a week to more than 8,700 stores, where they can buy practically everything. Its sales volume — more than $400 billion — is bigger than the GDP of Austria. Since its first store opened in 1962, Wal-Mart has followed the philosophy … >>
The first snow of the year fell in Munich on Monday — a month late — and road traffic came to a standstill. How humbling it is that forces of nature can still put a stop to normal human activity! And how much it says about the human spirit that we always try to fight these forces. The bus was … >>
Every classroom contains a few kids who are bored and like to cause trouble. When I was in school, our teachers would threaten them by saying, “This will go on your permanent record!” The threat was effective: none of us wanted to be prevented from going to college or from getting a job. It was also credible: we had no … >>
The tiny African country of Sierra Leone recently did something that even the United States hasn’t been able to do. It stopped using the traditional English system of measurements. While the Leoneans enjoy the convenience of the metric system, Americans continue to toil with inches, feet, yards, miles, ounces, pounds, gallons, acres, barrels and bushels. “I’ve been living here for … >>
Well, the iPad’s been on sale — depending on where you live — for a couple of weeks now. Much has been made of the things it can do (such as be operated by cats and two-year-olds) and the things it can’t (such as multitask and display countless websites that use Flash). But only now are we hearing the question … >>
Barack Obama calls it “a massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster”. The explosion on a BP drilling platform on April 20 has led to an outpouring of oil from the sea floor which threatens not only wildlife, but also the important fishing and tourism industries, in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Visiting Louisiana on Sunday, Obama said that “the federal … >>
Half a lifetime had passed since I’d seen these people. The year was 2003, and the event was our high-school reunion. Of the 620 students in my class, about 20 percent were there. Half of the rest could not be found. The others, I suppose, weren’t interested, or perhaps they felt their stories wouldn’t impress anyone. The people we thought … >>
It’s the first thing most of us are told before going abroad: “Don’t be an Ugly American.” We’re reminded — by our teachers, by the government, by travel websites — that we are all ambassadors of our country. People abroad will judge our country by the actions of the individuals they meet. The Ugly American was the title of a … >>
Some Americans who live on the coasts, or travel between them, refer to the middle part of their continent as “flyover country”. The states where most of the farming and mining take place aren’t, in their view, worth seeing from the ground. Last week we learned that Minneapolis, Minnesota, definitely belongs to flyover country. A Northwest Airlines plane to that … >>
Michael Silveira was fed up. Twice a day last May, he answered his cell phone, only to hear a recording from a company trying to sell him an extended warranty on his car. Silveira didn’t own a car. Worse, in America, cell phone owners share the cost of incoming calls. So by answering the phone, Silveira was helping to pay … >>