timwferguson

Americans Return to the Stores

Beware of “trend” stories, but this one from the Wall Street Journal suggests a believable pendulum swing back to brick-and-mortar shopping. Believable, because some buying is best done with tactile or other sensory judgments; because it is sometimes serendipitous, and because it can be part of a natural social experience when the stores are wellContinue reading “Americans Return to the Stores”

Xi Jinping Is in the Neighborhood

Much has been made of the Chinese Communist Party’s inroads into Africa, but less noticed is its increasing penetration of the Western Hemisphere, especially South America. This has proceeded apace for years, including during the Trump administration when regional policy hawks were supposedly on guard. This new report from the Council on Foreign Relations shedsContinue reading “Xi Jinping Is in the Neighborhood”

Now on Screens Nationwide: ‘Navalny’ v. Putinism

Theater showings around the U.S. today and tomorrow of this CNN Films production, “Navalny,” will include discussion with that network’s Clarissa Ward. I hope the international correspondent will press the matter of Russia’s internal dissent network, which once fueled Alexei Navalny’s rise as an opposition figure to Vladimir Putin. The quieting of that movement inContinue reading “Now on Screens Nationwide: ‘Navalny’ v. Putinism”

Meanwhile, on the Home Front

While cable-news attention is focused entirely elsewhere, the spillover effects of failed and/or corrupt states in the Americas continue to be felt on the U.S. border, where illegal flows keep swelling. This Associated Press report on the continuing calamity in Haiti is one more omen. The so-called Northern Triangle of Central America–Guatemala, Honduras and ElContinue reading “Meanwhile, on the Home Front”

Affordable Hamptons Housing After Saving Priceless Parcels?

Like many other affluent suburbs or resort areas, the Hamptons of New York is confronting a housing affordability crisis, which is to say that the service and support industries on which the wealthy residents rely cannot reliably staff their operations from nearby residents. This pinch results either in unfilled positions or lengthy commutes for theContinue reading “Affordable Hamptons Housing After Saving Priceless Parcels?”

Legacy of a Suffolk County ‘Moses’

The death of Lee Koppelman, as noted in this Newsday obituary, closes a long chapter of land-use policy on the eastern end of Long Island. Koppelman was Suffolk County’s planning chief from 1960-1988, as its post-war population boom led to pushback from preservationists, many of them well-off New Yorkers coveting weekend and summer retreats. KoppelmanContinue reading “Legacy of a Suffolk County ‘Moses’”

Yet Another Blockage at West Coast Ports?

After all the shipping/logistics industry has been through over the past two years, it might hope for some relief in the middle months of 2022. But not necessarily–the dockworker cartel represented by the West Coast longshoreman’s union is threatening one of its periodic walkouts, as this Wall Street Journal story flags. With pay already wellContinue reading “Yet Another Blockage at West Coast Ports?”

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

Sometimes it’s the advertisements that make the print product of a publication the more interesting version, and that is decidedly true at the New York Times. Various political entities want to put their cause in front of a prestige audience in the time-honored “tombstone” way. Last week, it was a collection of M.D.’s and othersContinue reading “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”

Casualties of a Binge of Antisocial Motoring

This week’s New York Times article zeroed in on one of the many victims of a two-year period of especially reckless behavior on America’s streets and highways. It’s a phenomenon that’s widely noted in conversations and comments sections around the country. Some ascribe the mayhem to pandemic-related effects on behavior, while others see it asContinue reading “Casualties of a Binge of Antisocial Motoring”

When a Shopping Mall Came to the Hamptons

Articles appearing on the front pages of their weekly papers 50 years ago—Feb. 3, 1972—were a surprise to many who’d begun making the Hamptons a weekend or summer home. Construction was beginning on a shopping center in their idyllic midst. Plaza East would be a first…and remain to this day the only of its kind.Continue reading “When a Shopping Mall Came to the Hamptons”