Dreamways

In anticipating Halloween, a newspaper headline announces: "Navy to Mask Swastika Look of Barracks in California“ (Carolyn Marshall, The New York Times, 27 Sep 07). It does seem a bit spooky, that the U.S. Navy would be involved in the business of covering up swastikas. It turns out that this is not just about swastika graffiti. The winged cross concerned is enormous, larger than life.  read more »

"Fake acupuncture works nearly as well as the real thing for low back pain, and either kind performs much better than usual care, German researchers have found.“ (Carla K. Johnson, "Even fake acupuncture beats usual care for back pain, study finds, “ The Denver Post, 25 Sep 07) Even the thought of acupuncture makes many a Westerner suspicious. Fake acupuncture? Even more dubious! That these procedures are more efficient in pain relief that standard Western medicine?  read more »

"A reader related this story: While driving to work one day, she heard her Aunt Clara, who’d been dead for twenty-five years, tell her to hit the brakes. A moment later, a truck ran a stoplight and barreled through the intersection she’d been approaching. She pulled over to the side of the road, shaken and amazed. To her aunt, she said, 'Talk to me.‘ Her aunt replied, 'I’m not here for your distraction.‘“ (The Sun magazine, Oct 07, pg. 47)

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"WE ARE ELLIS ISLAND“. This bold proclamation is put forth in an ad appearting in The New York Times Style Magazine (16 Sep 07). It is a 2-page, color ad. On the page to the left are two rows of 5 small photos each, all males (with the exception of one female) of various ages, sitting stylishly in what seem to be abandoned rooms – at Ellis Island?  read more »

"It was one of Israel’s dirty little secrets. In the early 1960s, as Israelis were being exposed for the first time to the shocking testimonies of Holocaust survivors at the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a series of pornographic pocket book called Stalags, based on Nazi themes, became best sellers throughout the land. So begins an article by Isabel Kershner in The New York Times (06 Sep 07).  read more »

"Pursuing a dream can be the quickest way to find a nightmare." So begins an article about ultimate hazardous risk takers. (William Yardley, "When Limits Push Back,“ The New York Times, 16 Sep 07)
The article frequently talks about dreams, about risk-takers striving to fulfill goals & aspirations or to realize ideals.  Risks being risks, their outcome is not always successful. Extreme risk takers „stir controversy and fascination for pushing the limits, sometimes fatally, and to prompt the inevitable question, 'What were they thinking?‘“  read more »

“I was in Los Angeles, so I was three hours behind the events. And very early in the morning, I had this peculiar dream”. So begins Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and social critic Susan Faludi’s recounting of a dream she had on September 11, 2001, the day of the World Trade Center attacks. ("Democracy Now!" broadcast, October 4, 2007). “In the dream I was sitting on an airplane next to another woman, and a young man came up to us and shot two bullets. One went into my throat at a sort of odd angle, and one into her throat at an odd angle.  read more »

“The Nobel Prize wasn’t the only big news for [Doris] Lessing last week. As a result of all the publicity, more than 100 people signed up to be her friend on MySpace.” The reader is informed about this possibly surprising bit of news regarding the 87-year-old author in a New York Times article (“Even in MySpace, a Friend Has to Qualify”, by Noam Cohen, October 15, 2007).

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"Speed-Dating Test Reveals the Truth: Men Go for Looks“ (Randolph E. Schmid, The Denver Post, 04 Sep 07). This attention-grabbing headline is followed by amusing information. "Science is confirming what most women know: When given the choice for a mate, men go for good looks. And guys won’t be surprised to learn that women are much choosier about partners than they are.“  read more »

"This Just In: Pete Seeger Denounced Stalin Over a Decade Ago." These rather peculiar words headline for an article by Daniel J. Wakin in The New York Times (01 Sep 07). Mr. Waking goes on to explain: "A front-page article in The New York Sun yesterday trumpeted what seemed to be a striking fact: Pete Seeter, the quintessential leftist balladeer and a former Communist, had denounced Stalinism.“

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