Today, August 4, 2010, is Barack Obama’s 49th birthday. It seems to say something about who he is that his wife and daughters are on vacation at the moment. He is travelling to Chicago for fund-raising events tomorrow, and will “spend the night in his Hyde Park home” there. It has been fashionable for some […]

Sleeping in a cottage boathouse built by a long-deceased uncle this August civic holiday weekend has prompted some meditations on the varying accomplishments of various generations – and the importance of deciding which ones are most worth remembering today. My uncle’s day job was in an office in the city. But, like my father and […]