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  • U.S. Nears an Epic Historical Moment

    - 4 weeks ago - 5 comments
    Something in the intensity with which Windrip looked at his audience, looked at all of them, his glance slowly taking them in from the highest-perched seat to the nearest, convinced them that he was talking to each individual, directly and solely; that he wanted to take each of them into his heart; that he was telling them the truths, the imperious and dangerous facts, that had been hidden from them… —Sinclair Lewis, It C…

  • Thought on the Start of Strategic Planning

    - 07 Mar 2024 - 4 comments
    At work, I will play a significant role in the upcoming strategic planning process. To many, that might sound dull, dry, and perhaps even depressing. To those who feel that way, you have my fullest condolences. Much has changed since the existing strategic plan was adopted and implemented. The COVID-19 Pandemic has run its course leaving profound changes in its wake. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has exploded onto the scene with transformational implications. Just these two developments could…

  • AI as a Pathway for Creativity Draws Strong Reactions

    - 24 Jan 2024 - 3 comments
    In an opinion piece written by Washington Post Opinion Graphics Reporter Yan Wu, Wu proclaimed that AI “is opening new pathways for creativity.” “Consider visual arts,” she continued. “Just as photography changed the course of art in the 19th century, AI image generators now stand to revolutionize how humans create.” Wu went on to explain that the key to unlocking this pathway involved the interaction between humans and machines through the prompts develop. The piece drew strong and oft…

  • Anchorage's Record-Breaking Summer of 2019

    - 02 Sep 2019 - 21 comments
    Prior to 2019, July 2016 was Anchorage, Alaska's warmest month on record. Summer 2019 as a whole was even warmer than July 2016. The duration of the excessive warmth and extreme temperatures recorded during the summer would have been very unlikely, if not improbable, without human-induced climate change.

  • Historic European Heat Offers Latest Symptom of Climate Change

    - 28 Jul 2019 - 12 comments
    The second of the most intense pair of heat waves ever to roll across the European continent is now departing Scandinavia and headed for Iceland and Greenland where it will finally dissipate altogether. On account of these unprecedented bursts of heat, the weather record book has been rewritten across much of Europe. All-time national heat records were set in Belgium (41.8°C/107°F), France (46.0°C/115°F), Germany (42.6°C/109°F), Luxembourg (39.0°C/102°F), and the Netherlands (40.7°C/105°F). A pr…

  • America's Descent into Darkness

    - 29 Jan 2017 - 12 comments
    I typically refrain from writing political commentary here. But these are no ordinary times, at least in the United States. The January 29, 2017 edition of The Washington Post reported : Sharef once worked for a U.S. government subcontractor in post-invasion Iraq as a translator and a program manager. He got his visas, after two years of vetting, through a special U.S. resettlement program for Iraqi employees of the American government. Working for Americans was filled with perils, he…

  • November

    - 12 Nov 2016 - 7 comments
    In his Chronicles of England , Richard Grafton wrote, “Thirty days hath November…” Yet, thirty days is sufficient time for this transitional month to bring one from one season into another. November is the elegant bridge that leads from autumn to winter. As one walks across that bridge, autumn’s brilliant colors fade. The sun’s golden rays offer memories of fall’s disappearing warmth, but the days grow ever shorter. Delicate ice crystals from morning frost sometimes glazes the way ahead.…

  • A Long, Dark, Sad Night

    - 25 Jun 2016 - 74 comments
    In his A History of the English-Speaking Peoples , Winston Churchill wrote: Every nation or group of nations has its own tale to tell. Knowledge of the trials and struggles is necessary to all who would comprehend the problems, perils, challenges, and opportunities which confront us today... It is in the hope that contemplation of the trials and tribulations of our forefathers may not only fortify the English-speaking peoples of today, but also play some small part in uniting the whole wor…

  • A Journey through Spring

    - 10 May 2016 - 9 comments
    One moment in early March, the ground was covered by snow. Despite lengthening days, the late-starting winter of 2015-16 struggled to hang on. But seemingly the next moment, all the snow was gone. Where snow and ice had once hugged the earth, the landscape blushed in the growing colors of spring. Each passing day, the mild breezes of a rising spring kissed new life into the once-barren landscape. Soon, the ground was covered in an extraordinary explosion of daffodils. Everywhere one looke…

  • An Extraordinary December

    - 05 Jan 2016 - 15 comments
    In his “Autumn Hymn,” Richard Newell observed: Soon shall all the songless wood Shiver in the deepening snow… Instead, December 2015 unveiled an entirely different scenario. Large parts of North America, Europe, and Asia basked in unseasonable warmth. In North America, as wave after wave of warmth washed over the Continent, the “deepening snow” did not come and the “songless wood” did not “shiver.” Rather, the verse of Alice Lord’s “Indian Summer’s Aftermath” much better describ…

  • Solidarity with France

    - 14 Nov 2015 - 20 comments
    2015 has been a dark year for humanity. In January, we mourned the brave cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo who lost their lives simply for exercising their inherent right of free speech, along with others who died in related incidents. Now, as the year nears an end and the joyous Hanukkah and Christmas holidays approach, Islamist terrorists have again inflicted their deadly and barbaric savagery on the people of France. In doing so, they trampled human dignity and the most basic and inaliena…

  • Manor Park’s Stormy Days

    - 29 Oct 2015 - 8 comments
    Lying along the waters of the Long Island Sound, Manor Park is filled with beauty. Among other things, one can capture the rising of a fiery red sun, boats anchored in pristine blue waters, gazebos that overlook the Sound, shimmering metamorphic rocks that were once part of the Appalachian Mountain chain, and even hummingbirds gracefully dining on the nectar of a trumpet vine. On some of the typically hot summer days, one can find respite in the Park’s iconic gazebos from a refreshing sea breeze…

  • An Extraordinary Migration

    - 04 Oct 2015 - 10 comments
    Summer’s heat lingered well into September this year. The mercury soared to 97°F (36.1°C) on the 8th day of the month and 87°F (30.6°C) on the 18th. Yet, despite the sometimes furnace-like breath of stubborn summer, the days were growing steadily shorter. Each morning, the sun seemed to sleep a little longer. Each evening, the sun departed a little earlier. Each minute of daylight became a little more precious. Each hour of darkness seemed to stretch beyond what should have been allotted. Th…

  • Painting with Soap at the New York Hall of Science

    - 09 Sep 2015 - 4 comments
    Near the end of August, my family and I went to the New York Hall of Science in Corona (Queens). This museum features some 450 exhibits and displays related to science, technology, engineering and math. Outside the museum, is a nine-hole miniature golf course with a range of holes designed to teach basic principles of space science. For example, the first hole features a rotating circle with an opening. The goal is time one’s shot so that the ball passes through the opening when it is availa…

  • The Fog Comes (Then Moves On)

    - 08 Aug 2015 - 7 comments
    In 1878, Carl Sandburg wrote: The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on. Nearly 140 years later on April 3, 2015, Sandburg’s descriptive poem transcended the paper on which it was written. The words leapt off the pages and a thick blanket of fog rolled across the Long Island Sound on “little cat feet.” For a time, it sat over the water, shrouding Long Island and also the landscape across Larchmont Harbor in…

  • The Frigid February of 2015: A Look Back

    - 06 Apr 2015 - 8 comments
    The persistent and frequently severe cold that covered the New York Metropolitan Area produced average temperatures more reminiscent of the spread of the television in the 1930s than the era of smartphones, tablets, and WiFi. In New York City, the mean February temperature came to just 23.9°F (-4.5°C). That monthly average was a record 11.4°F (6.3°C) below normal. No month since regular recordkeeping began in 1869 had ever had a larger cold anomaly. Moreover, only 1885 (22.7°F/-5.2°C) and 1934 (…

  • A Time to Defend Free Expression

    - 09 Jan 2015 - 11 comments
    I was badly shocked and saddened by the vicious terrorist attack that took place in Paris yesterday. I mourn its victims, those from Charlie Hebdo and the police officers who were murdered. I also mourn the policewoman who lost her life today, whether or not that incident was related to yesterday’s terrorist attack. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, their families, and to the French people. At the same time, I join the growing chorus of sentiment in proclaiming, “Je suis Charl…

  • Halloween at the New York Botanical Garden

    - 27 Oct 2014 - 9 comments
    Each year, the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York) transforms its Children’s Garden into a Haunted Pumpkin Garden toward the end of September. The children’s emotions—ranging from joy to fright—are about as varied as the number of children who pass through the Haunted Garden each fall. Haunted Pumpkin Garden Haunted Pumpkin Garden “Mine!” (Haunted Pumpkin Garden) Haunted Pumpkin Garden In mid-to-late October, just as the last Monarchs are departing, giant pump…
31 articles in total