Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
New York City is often considered the most liberal part of the United States, but you wouldn’t know it from the way it’s run. Signs tell you “Don’t even think of parking here”. Police issue tickets for jaywalking. Smoking in parks is forbidden. Now New Yorkers may be forced to consume less sugar. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan is to get … >>
The word of the moment is “occupy”. It means so many useful things. You can ask someone: “Is this seat occupied?”, meaning “Is someone sitting here?” Rooms in a hotel can be occupied (meaning used or inhabited), as can office space in a building: “The Pilewski Tower has 70 percent occupancy.” You can be occupied, meaning you have something to … >>
So far, Barack Obama has been one of our best Republican presidents — which is fine, except that he claims to be a Democrat. Despite his promise of “change”, some things haven’t changed at all since the days of George W. Bush. We’ve seen unrepentant bankers get big bonuses, government advisers be recruited from Wall Street and corporations, and nearly … >>
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 … >>
It seemed like one of those news stories that would come and go quickly — but the media and the politicians aren’t letting it die. Two weeks ago, the city of New York agreed to let a private organization build a $100 million mosque and Islamic community center in Manhattan. This in itself is nothing unusual. People from 190 countries … >>
It’s sobering to realize that eight years have passed since New York and Washington, DC, were attacked on September 11, 2001. Something that happened that long ago, and is already the subject of numerous documentaries, is history. The more time passes, the more the official version of events is accepted, and the less plausible any alternative version becomes. This fact … >>
It says something about the state of the discussion on climate change that the skeptics haven’t spoken up this year. Usually it takes only a few days of cold, rainy weather — not an entire “summer” like this one in southern Germany — for them to start crowing and scoffing. But even those who don’t accept the idea of climate … >>
Last week, some of us in the print media observed a moment of silence for the death of a relative. After 146 years in business, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer printed its last newspaper on March 17. Unable to make a profit, the Hearst Corporation, which owns the P-I, has turned the paper into an online-only edition. You’d think that enough readers … >>
As we know from reading Spotlight Online, President Obama has proclaimed March to be “Irish-American Heritage Month”. Certainly, with the name O’Bama, he can joke about having a connection to Ireland. With 12 percent of Americans claiming some Irish ancestry, it’s not unfair to give the Irish a whole month. African-Americans, at 13.5 percent, have all of February as Black … >>