Columns

In the United States you can go to jail for homicide and murder without killing someone. It happens all the time. It happens in Ohio. It happens to kids, and it happens intentionally. Police charge criminals with murder knowing they didn’t kill anyone. Prosecutors seek convictions knowing the defendant did not kill anyone, and judges sentence those convicted to life in prison, and sometimes to be killed themselves through the death penalty with full knowledge that the convicted didn’t take a life.

One of the lead stories from all major news outlets last week was exemplified by The Wall Street Journal: “Last Year’s Global Temperature Set a Record.” I was struck by a graph under that WSJ headline that showed U.S. average temperature anomalies since 1900. From 1900 to about 1980, the warm years and the cold years for the most part balanced out. But since the year 2000 the balance has disappeared with no offsetting cooler year anomalies. In fact, the years have become increasingly warmer, warmer than ever before, and again with no cooler offsets.

My dad turned 90 this weekend and we were all set to drive up north to celebrate his birthday.

Editor’s note — This is the second of a multipart column about the author meeting famous rock and roll stars:

What happened on Oct. 7, 2023, was as brutal as it gets on humanity’s scale of conduct. In fact, it was below the bottom of the chart. Hamas gunmen butchered almost 2,000 individuals, many women and small children. Rape doesn’t even begin to describe what happened to many women during the assault.

“Perfection is the enemy of progress,” according to Winston Churchill.

Last time we discussed some tools to help us remember things. Tools like note taking apps, TV and streaming services series and bookmarking services. This time we’ll talk about tools to help us recall recipes and manage our photos.

Editor’s note — This is the first of a multipart column about meeting famous rock and roll stars:

The question sounds pretty sensational but the allegation may go down as one of the biggest legal challenges of the century. The New York Times this past week sued Microsoft and ChatGPT maker OpenAI for copyright infringement. The paper claims that AI tools vacuum up text from everywhere and everything and these devices do so without permission, and without compensation.

My nephew, Beau, keeps me on my toes.