Peter Murmann

Queen Elizabeth is arriving in Washington in a few days. The state dinner at the White House is billed as the social event of Bush’s presidency. George Tenet is not on the guest list. The press is full of stories about whether George Bush will be able to behave as one is supposed to in [Read More]

Louis Menand reviews two recent books of quotations in the New Yorker.  After reading his fun review, I really want these two books for my library. Anyone forgot my birthday? Sherlock Holmes never said “Elementary, my dear Watson.” Neither Ingrid Bergman nor anyone else in “Casablanca” says “Play it again, Sam”; Leo Durocher did not say [Read More]

If you want to find out about new articles I posted on this site as soon as they are published, you can now get notified via email. To subscribe to this email notification service simply type your eMail address into the box on the left side (below the search box) and hit the “Subscribe me” [Read More]

Over the years I have seen many small reproductions of Vermeer

I am waiting for the fifth season of 24 to come out on DVD December 5th. In the meantime, I am watching the first season of the HBO comedy Entourage on the Stairmaster, trying to lose a few pounds. The show gives you a look at the day-to-day life of Vincent (Vince) Chase, a [Read More]

  By GEORGE JOHNSON (NYT) Maybe the pivotal moment came when Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in physics, warned that Or perhaps the turning point occurred at a more solemn moment, when Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City and an adviser to the Bush administration on space exploration, hushed the audience [Read More]

  Until last night’s election, Karl Rove could take it as complement to be called Bush’s brain. American voters no longer seem to believe that the brain of the commander-in-chief is large enough to steer the nation in the right directions. Republican politicians entering the 2008 races will now reevaluate whether Rove’s brain is [Read More]