The Extreme Court of the United States recently killed the Biden Administration’s effort to reduce the burden of student loan payments. Could anyone imagine in this day and time an institution which accepted students on merit alone, cost zero in tuition and was rated one of the foremost in the nation? Yes, Virginia, such did …
Author Archives: rfcan
Drug Factoids – Heroin
For most of my career with the Feds, heroin was considered (to borrow an ancient FBI label) Public Enemy #1. In this century, it has lost the title to fentanyl, but for most of my time with DEA, its major focus was on heroin. The drug’s effect on humans is actually quite similar to fentanyl. …
Drug Factoids
If you have ever purchased a “drug” (maybe a bottle of hand sanitizer) you may have noticed on the label a section called “Drug Facts”. Not wishing to infringe on any laws, I’ll simply modify the name a little. Most of us use drugs (probably to stay alive, in many cases). Just for the fun …
Can’t We Get Rid Of
The Second Amendment This Amendment, as written, basically makes no sense. To quote: “A well regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free state, the right of a free people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”. Seems almost like a non sequitor. Are we going to call a bunch of …
How Bad Does it Get?
Since the founding of our republic, we’ve had 46 chief executives (presidents). Ranking them has been something of a parlor game among historians since our founding. Although “rankings” can fluctuate over the decades as new information is unearthed, most rank the top 4 or so fairly consistently: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Thomas …
Life is Not Fair
This is a partial quote from John F. Kennedy (did he actually say this? who knows). There is, however, much evidence to support this thesis. Since this is going to concern driving, I really should start at the beginning. As readers of this blog know, only too well, I was brought up in Queens NY …
Lapsed
Those of you who read my stuff have probably heard me describe myself as a “lapsed” Catholic. My wife and I were practicing Roman Catholics for most of our long lives. Our two adult children are observant Catholics. Flo and I believe in God as the only rational answer to the wonders of nature which …
Euphenisms
Although cruelty seems to be the hallmark of this century (or maybe we’ve just become more aware of it) it is increasingly avoided in communications, both oral and written. We have become abusers of euphemisms (hope I’m spelling it right). Euphemisms are, shall we say, nicer ways to describe things. For example, “senior citizens” is …
Outerboro
Plus ca change……. We continue to hear and talk about school shootings (it is, after all, part of our Right to Keep and Bear Arms). I feel so sorry for parents, not to mention kids, who go to school wondering whether something like this is going to happen today. Just this month, a teacher, a …
Catholic School
On my 55th birthday, my wife congratulated me, and the next thing she said.to me was, “When are you retiring”? I did so about five months later. I got, immediately, a job teaching science in a catholic high school. My wife, Flo, had by this time become a grizzled veteran catholic educator. This was the …
Rogernarc 