Sam Pollak
- Sam Pollak
-
- Saturday, January 22, 2011
-
Recent epiphanies on scams, thugs and errors
The men in the Pollak family live their lives by this simple philosophy. “Why stand when you can sit? Why sit when you can lie down?” As you might imagine, this sort of lifestyle governance lends itself not only to the hardening of every artery in our bodies, but to time well-spent in profound thought.
- Saturday, January 1, 2011
-
Sammies celebrate the odd and the inexplicable
It's got to be terribly annoying. It's the end of the old year and the beginning of another, and you've just been inundated with preposterous Top 10 lists, ad infinitum, ad nauseam. Sooooo "¦ one more won't kill ya.
- Saturday, December 11, 2010
-
Obama, Jeter strike out at ingratitude
President Barack Obama and the Yankees' Derek Jeter held news conferences Tuesday that reminded me _ like so many other things seem to do in my dotage _ of an old story.
- Saturday, November 20, 2010
-
Street person’s image lingers long after encounter
Weeks have gone by, and still, I can’t get her out of my mind. Because I am invited to inflict my blatherings upon WAMC’s Northeast Public Radio listeners every few weeks, I was able to wangle seats for my wife and me on the station’s bus caravan to the big Jon Stewart- Stephen Colbert rally in Washington, D.C.
- Saturday, October 30, 2010
-
A 'conversation' with a couple of Democrats
We are talking today with two 30-ish Democrats named Bobby and Bobbi who voted for Barack Obama in 2008. They will not be voting Tuesday.
- Saturday, October 9, 2010
-
What I'd say if asked to speak to Tea Party
My friends in the local Tea Party _ yes, I actually do have a couple _ have been urging me to attend one of the group's rallies. This, I believe, would be a splendid idea, particularly if I were given the opportunity to address the multitude.
- Saturday, September 18, 2010
-
TV networks should focus on hiring for substance, not looks
There's a lot to be said for most of those talking heads you see on television these days. What can be said is that a lot of those heads are attached to sleek bodies honed to speak volumes to the male viewing public.
- Saturday, August 28, 2010
-
No matter what age or condition, guys just want to play ball
It was just the other night, and it was pouring rain in Laurens. Peering out from what passes as a dugout were a dozen or so morose softball players whose amateur careers possess far more yesterdays than tomorrows. As the field began to resemble Lake Michigan, their spirits dropped as the gentle rain from heaven.
They wanted to play. - Saturday, August 7, 2010
-
American history shows we are far from infallible
As is so woefully frequent in columns that incorporate any number of quotations, one is reminded of what has been (probably erroneously) attributed to the oft-quoted Dr. Samuel Johnson. "Your manuscript," the renowned 18th century author, editor and critic is said to have opined to a writer, "is both good and original. But the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good."
- Saturday, July 17, 2010
-
Chewing on current events can be a sticky situation
This burning question has been puzzling philosophers, scientists, theologians and song lyricists for decades. Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight?
- Sunday, June 27, 2010
-
Grads: Some points to consider from the class of 1968
Somewhere, deep in the bowels of a New Jersey retirement community, an 88-year-old woman is filled with trepidation as she approaches her mailbox. It is the same daily dread she has felt since that June afternoon in 1968.
- Monday, June 7, 2010
-
Strong friendships can survive tests of time and distance
They are your pals of long ago, with whom you shared some of the best years of your life. Maybe it was high school, or college or that first job working for that crazy boss you all made fun of behind his back.
- Friday, May 21, 2010
-
An authority on the Constitution, Palin is not
I wish Sarah Palin _ among others who purport to be Constitutional scholars _ could have met Harry F. Wilhelm. She might have learned something, but then again, probably not.
- Saturday, April 24, 2010
-
Being against it, whatever it is, isn't good enough
I don't know what they have to say, It makes no difference anyway _ Whatever it is, I'm against it! No matter what it is or who commenced it, I'm against it.
- Saturday, March 13, 2010
-
It’s getting hard to find athletes kids can admire
Somewhere in America as you read this, there’s a kid trying to hit a rubber ball with a broomstick and pretending to be someone else. At least I hope the kid is doing that instead of playing a video game.
- Saturday, October 17, 2009
-
What to do when nothing is good for your health
I’ve done some exhaustive research on the matter, and I’m afraid there’s nothing to be done other than to face the awful truth with a steely resolve.
- Saturday, July 25, 2009
-
The birth of a notion for ignorance
"Education is dangerous," said Hermann Goering, Adolf Hitler's second-in-command and head of the Luftwaffe. "Every educated person is a future enemy."
- Saturday, April 25, 2009
-
Torture is un-American as it gets
Didn't then-President George W. Bush say in a news conference on Nov. 7, 2005, "We do not torture"? Then why did we torture suspected terrorists _ some guilty and others innocent _ dozens and even hundreds of times?
- Saturday, January 10, 2009
-
Amid errors, committing to credibility
Sometimes, we screw up. Sure, everybody does, but not as obviously as a newspaper.
- Saturday, November 8, 2008
-
You can bet Sears will be controversial
The most frequent newspaper question I'm asked is why I ever asked Tom Sears to write a column in The Daily Star. Sears, a Hartwick College professor of accounting, regularly infuriates the more-liberal element of our readership with his ardent conservative prose.
