Cuba’s Concern

When it comes to liking Cuba, no country is remotely close to Canada. About this time of year Cuba has begun drawing close to a million Canadians for a 2013 vacation according to official estimates. (Click on the article's main title to read the whole.)

And now Newtown

I hoped my commentary in the months of Christmas and Hanukkah could somehow temper the horror in Newtown, the small community of 20,000 in Connecticut where just days ago a troubled young man shot his mother, then six adults and 20 children, mostly six or seven years old. (Click on the article's bold title to read the whole.)

Life on the gentle side of the Riviera

The gentle coastal area of France’s southeast has been known since the 1800s, as the Cote d’ Azur, but to most Europeans and North Americans, its most common name is The Riviera. It includes small cities, towns, and restful countryside. (Click on the article's main title to read the whole.) .

Excess Among the CEOs

A month or so ago, a major newscast took a moment to mention that when some American CEOs are handed the pink slip, it can come with a settlement of millions upon millions. Naturally, that extravagance justifies friends of mine --- lifelong skeptics of the corporate world --- in their ever deepening conviction that big business is about one thing: “looking out for Number One.” (Click on the blog's main title to read the whole.)

Cremona Comes With Strings Attached

One of the best things about Milan -- Italy's fashion capital -- is it's just an hour by train from Cremona. A small city of about 70,000, Cremona is renowned for one thing: The violin, which was created there in the early 1500s and still defines the city. (Click on the article's main title to read the whole.)