Steve Kelman on Politics, Culture, and Life
9/10/2021
On commuter rail for first time in 18 months
Took the commuter rail from Concord to Cambridge for the first time since a year ago March. I was about to get on the train and then put on my mask when the conductor asked me to put on my mask before I got on the train. At the subway station going into Harvard Square, literally EVERYBODY was masked. Let's just say not everybody is like us here in Boston.
Federal employee unions and vaccination mandate for feds
The American federation of government employees has warned that employees being disciplined for refusing vaccines must be given full due process before any discipline. Seem to be missing the big picture here. How about a statement endorsing the president's efforts?
German elections and Germany as a democratic country
I am very pleasantly surprised at how many stories the Times is running on the ongoing German election campaign. They are again showing they are our incontrovertibly most international newspaper.
On a related Germany note, it is so heartwarming to watch the German campaign proceed so normally. Remember that this country was responsible for Nazism, the worst horror in human history. They have now become a peaceful, tolerant nation and a beacon of human rights. Optimism about the human condition is justified.