TO AMARILLO SLIM who died last week at age 83. Slim won the main event at the World Series of Poker in 1972. He parlayed his win into guest appearances on Johnny Carson and other TV shows where he publicized poker and, not incidentally, himself. He was a natural showman with an outsized personality. He played

SIMON KUPER writes regularly for the Financial Times on culture, politics, and sport. He's lived in Paris for 10 years. I've read him off and on and find him unremarkable.  His column in the FT on May 5 has his picture in the upper right corner, and opens with "Anyone who spends time in Paris comes

Since undertaking this blogging adventure back in February, I have written everything that has appeared herein. Today, I'm departing from that tradition by posting, with permission, an op-ed piece written by a friend of mine that appeared in the Stamford Advocate on April 17, 2012.  Marie, who had the good sense to be born in

TO CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL, AND DR. PAUL KRUGMAN who debated on Bloomberg TV on Monday night.  I like both of these guys, and will usually go out of my way to watch them when they're on the air.  Ron Paul is a hard-nosed Libertarian Conservative. He's cheerful and uncorruptible. He believes that debt is the major

ERIC BOLLING is the pretty boy airhead and cheap-shot artist who appears on FOX's gigglefest called Five at Five. On their program on the eve of the anniversary of the killing of Osama Bin Laden, Bolling sought to diminish the role of President Obama, by suggesting he was "not even sure" if Obama ordered the ultimate mission.

One can tell something about a journalist or TV anchor not only by what they cover, but what they choose not to cover.  Rachel Maddow is rapidly becoming an icon of the left. She is openly gay and passionate about LGBT and women's issues. No complaints about any of that. With Keith Olbermann gone, she

RICHARD GRENELL has been appointed National Security and Foreign Policy Spokesman for presumed Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Mr. Grenell, who is openly gay, seems to have never had an unblogged or untweeted thought.  Now that he is being thrust into a high-profile position, Mr. Grenell has manifested a passionate interest in history … specifically, his own

With tax day behind us, you may be discomforted to know that, according to the Treasury Department, approximately 1,500 people will have made over $1 million in 2011, and pay no federal income tax. That's no, as in NOTHING. Indeed, it's possible to make a $100 million in a year and pay no federal or

Did you ever notice how the media coverage of big attention-riveting events tends to follow a familiar pattern? At first, there's a brief pause (which is getting briefer because of social media) when people try to absorb what actually has happened. This is followed by a competition amongst the commentariat to say something relevant, which

Ron Kessler writes books about the FBI, the CIA and the Secret Service. He's been on TV a bit since the prostitute scandal involving Service agents while on a Presidential trip. Two things come through in his TV interviews. First, he'll mention a dated book of his several times. Second, he's particularly peeved with the