I find the news coverage of this war emotionally confusing, when contrasted with my memories. When we returned to the US in 1972, I had my first exposure to television news. At the time, Walter Cronkite closed every evening’s newscast with a list of American and Vietnamese (north and south) casualties – which ran to… Continue reading News Coverage of the Second Iraq War
Author: Deirdre Straughan
Here We Go Again: The Beginning of the Second Iraq War
Whatever one’s feelings about the rightness or otherwise of it, war is never a comfortable time. This one in particular is cause for nervousness among Americans overseas. I’ve just received email from the US Embassy in Rome advising “American citizens in Italy to take prudent steps to ensure their personal safety in the coming days.… Continue reading Here We Go Again: The Beginning of the Second Iraq War
Cricket Fanatics
My friend and Woodstock classmate Yuti Bhatt responds to the articles on sports fans: The section on Sports Fanatics is interesting in light of the fact that more than a billion people at this very moment are engrossed in a series of games being played over a period of 43 days in South Africa. I… Continue reading Cricket Fanatics
Medical Privacy
…One big aspect of Italy’s national health system that I forgot to mention previously: it’s available to EVERYBODY. There’s no nonsense like asking for insurance information while you’re bleeding in the emergency room (they do ask for your national health card, but if you don’t happen to have it on you, no one cares). And… Continue reading Medical Privacy
50 Ways to Flush a Toilet
In the Brussels airport, I saw a new piece of technology that I just had to try out: the Lady P Urinoir (in the ladies’ bathroom, naturally). There were written instructions in four languages: “1. Assume skiing position.” Fortunately, there were also stick-figure illustrations, otherwise I would have had to puzzle about “skiing position,” not… Continue reading 50 Ways to Flush a Toilet