An Almanack

The headlines today make us look back at a time when the country faced even greater economic peril. Now we stare into the abyss. Then we were at the bottom of that abyss. Yet we survived, and even thrived. In no small measure it is because the people had the wisdom to choose the right leader. In 1932 that leader was Franklin Delanor Roosevelt, Governor of New York. He might have got around on a wheelchair, but his voice projected the confidence of a vital and ambitious nation. (more…)

At the campus Starbuck’s Coffee Shop:

“I would like a small coffee please”

“Actually, our coffee machine is broken. So we don’t have coffee today”

“Oh.”

“You can get a Tall Americano.”

I look around. There are many Americans around, most of them taller than me. Confused.

“What is a Tall Americano?”

“Small coffee”.

“Oh Ok.”

At eighteen you are old enough to vote. To be registered for a potential draft, if you are male. Old enough to enlist in the armed forces, regardless of gender. And certainly to drive. But you cannot be trusted with a glass of beer until you are twenty one. That is the law in most of the United States. Since most undergraduates fall in the age group 18-21 for whom alcohol is prohibited, colleges and universities have become enforcers of this rule. (more…)

What seemed only an idealistic dream a year ago has come to pass. Elections were held in Pakistan. Both of the main political parties took part. Musharraf has resigned. One of the intellectual leaders of the opposition to Musharraf’s military regime, Husain Haqqani, is now the Pakistani Ambassador to the United States.

But all is not well. (more…)