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New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo, far left, meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden in the White House on Feb. 12. Photograph by Adam Schultz/White House.

The unfathomable tragedy of Andrew Cuomo

August 10, 2021

Time is indeed another country. Last year, New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo was a hero of the pandemic, his daily Covid briefings compared to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fireside chats for their calming humanity.

This year, Cuomo — who announced his resignation today — is another villain of #MeToo, accused in state Attorney General Letitia James’ report of sexually harassing and assaulting 11 women and in other circles of berating, bullying and brutalizing male and female employees alike.

Simone Biles taking the all-around gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Photograph by Agência Brasil Fotografias. — Simone Biles taking the all-around gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. **Photograph by** Agência Brasil Fotografias.

Simone Biles and the crush of media expectations

July 28, 2021

Citing some mental challenges, gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from the team competition and individual all-around at the Tokyo Olympics, cheering her teammates instead as they exhibited grace and grit under pressure to win the team silver as their Russian rivals took the gold.

We can’t know what is going through her mind. She had a tough childhood and was among the gymnasts abused by Dr. Larry Nasser. She said she took herself out of competition so she wouldn’t cost her team a medal. Watching her vault again, it’s clear she did the right thing., despite the naysaying from the usual suspects, including provocateur Piers Morgan. Biles seemed disoriented in space, a dangerous thing to be in a sport in which paralysis and death are real possibilities. Without her, there would be no chance for the team gold. But with her, in that condition, there might’ve been no chance for the podium. So Biles was prudent to walk away for now.

Going for the (tarnished) gold -- our ambivalence to the Olympics

July 25, 2021

Well, the 2020 Summer Olympics have finally arrived in Tokyo. Let the naysaying games begin.

Once again we’ve heard about the tyranny of the International Olympics Committee, which is more interested in maintaining its power and money than in the athletes it purports to represent; nations trying to medal in the game of under-the-table bribery in a bid for host city status; boycotts by politicians and other world leaders, including South Korean President Moon Jae-in, miffed by a remark made by a Japanese diplomat; and the usual weird Olympic village stuff, like the recyclable, cardboard beds that were thought to deter any extracurricular nooky by the athletes. (As if anything could deter people from having sex, as a world population of 7.7 billion can attest.)

The forever war in the graveyard of modern empires

July 16, 2021

The Americans have left Afghanistan and though President Joe Biden and the public are happy, many of us have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, at 20 years it was the United States’ longest war, and no one wants to fight a forever war. On the other hand, there is a sense of a mission unfulfilled, or perhaps one extended beyond its original purpose and thus unfulfilled.

The uses of enchantment: A garden ornament at Caramoor. Photograph by Georgette Gouveia. — The uses of enchantment: A garden ornament at Caramoor. *Photograph by Georgette Gouveia.*

A memorable, magical, musical Marsalis Juneteenth

June 22, 2021

What is a holiday if not the meaning we ascribe to it beyond beaches and barbecues, retail and relaxation?

The Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah marked the first official Juneteenth — and the opening of its acclaimed international summer music festival — with a concert of works by a composer, Duke Ellington, who understood emotionally and musically that we are one race, the human one.

Donald J. Trump, former blogger

June 6, 2021

Lost in all the hoopla surrounding former President Donald J. Trump being banned from Facebook for two years is the news that his blog and website are kaput after 29 days. As a blogger myself, I was more than intrigued by this. Apparently, it was due to lack of interest on the part of the public. But could it also be that domain contracts, like prenups, have shelf lives? Maybe 30 days was the free trial.

The Ryanair Boeing 737 that was hijacked on May 23, seen in 2019 in Poland. Photograph by Andrzej Otrębski. — The Ryanair Boeing 737 that was hijacked on May 23, seen in 2019 in Poland. *Photograph by* *Andrzej Otrębski*.

Flying blind: Our peculiar reaction to the Ryanair hijacking

May 27, 2021

Though we should never court tragedy, we know our true selves really only in it. Catastrophe, adversity of any kind, reveals character. So what does the Belarusian hijacking of a Ryanair jet tell us about ourselves?

It tells us what we have known all along in our fractured age, what we have seen with the pandemic, which is that we can’t come together in a crisis, because we can’t think clearly about it.

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