Peter Murmann

After watching the film “Atonement”, the name “Ian McEwan” is burned into my mind. His recent story in the New Yorker starts out very strong and was a pleasure to read. It surprised no one to learn that Michael Beard had been an only child, and he would have been the first to concede [Read More]

DAVID BROOKS (NY Times) responds the last week’s column by Frank Rich and explains why it is so difficult for Obama to create on overarching narrative. The poltical odds seem to have changed. Right now the money is on health care passing. Who is Barack Obama? If you ask a conservative Republican, you are likely to hear [Read More]

The money in Washington is on Health Care legislation not passing this year. FRANK RICH is hedging his bets on this issue.  But he articulates forcefully that Obama needs to create an overarching narrative before it is too late for his presidency. WEDNESDAY’S health care rally was one of President Obama’s finest hours. [Read More]

by Mary Dow Brine The woman was old and ragged and gray And bent with the chill of the Winter’s day. The street was wet with a recent snow And the woman’s feet were aged and slow. She stood at the crossing and waited long, Alone, uncared for, amid the throng Of human beings who passed her by Nor heeded the glance of [Read More]

The first half of the film was so painful to watch that I considered turning off the DVD player. Strangely enough when words on the screen announce that we are now entering HELL (this is after the two lovers Dan (Heath Ledger) and Candy (Abbie Cornish), according to earlier words of the screen, were in [Read More]

Here is a great story by Joe Flint in the LA Times about the challenges about starting and ending a romance with facebook. More than just Facebook friended Two longtime acquaintances connect on the website, and it’s like a whirlwind—it sweeps them up together and then hurls them apart. It was my first romance of the Facebook era. [Read More]