On September 21, I wrote about Vaccinations (Not) and Rage! Then, just yesterday, I punted on comments about irritants from the world around me, focusing instead on Days of Awe. And, truly, until late this afternoon I thought I would pull my punches for a few days. But …

So what had me riled up? Enraged, really? Well, three things. First, there was latte-gate. The President of the United States got off Marine One—the helicopter we provide for his use—and, holding a paper coffee cup in his right hand, saluted a soldier. Fox News went ballistic, and maybe this will finally get someone to file the lawsuit against President Obama, for it is hard to imagine a more significant

We’re one day into 5775, the year—in the Hebrew calendar—which began about 24 hours ago, at least for my local readers. In English Rosh Hashanah means head of the year. It’s also the beginning of the Days of Awe, which is one cool description for the 10-day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. (The same period is also called the High Holy Days, but Days of Awe has captured me.)

The Hebrew calendar is a lunar calendar, which requires periodic adjustments. I’m sure plenty of Talmudic scholars spent many lives figuring out how to keep things on track, more or less. There are certain date parameters for the Days of Awe on our Gregorian calendar.

Writing presents challenges, but I’m pretty sure they’re not the ones you think they are. No, I don’t have a problem finding time to write, really. I rarely find myself with writer’s block, the inability to commit words, sentences, and paragraphs to a Word file. And I don’t want for things to write about.

So what is my challenge? Candidly, I find it tough, too often, to contain my rage! I’m sitting here, along with all of you and the rest of our fellow Americans, watching a society decline. Sure as I’m pounding these keys, “there’s a bad moon on the rise.” Are things as bad as John C. Fogerty suggested? No and yes. No, hurricanes and overflowing rivers won’t

Overhead in the nonprofit sector has been a hot topic for several years. For a long time the consensus said overhead was a pretty good measure of organizational effectiveness. Spending lots = bad; next to nothing = good! Entities focused on overhead to avoid bad ratings from Charity Navigator and other evaluators. Never mind what the group was doing, or that for one group overhead might, in fact, be programmatic expenditures:  just have a low overhead ratio to keep the contributions coming!

Overhead as a measure has similar attributes to those we attach too often to government programs, albeit probably in reverse. More Medicare spending = good; cuts = bad. Maybe, though, money as a proxy makes not so

I’m a fan! I think Senator Edward Kennedy was an extraordinary public servant whose accomplishments have made life better for all of us. Perfect? Absolutely not. Extraordinarily flawed? Absolutely. No one knows what really happened 45 years ago off Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, but it was surely nothing good, and a young woman died. Bad!!! And there’s more. Drinking, cheating, etc. Nothing to be proud of, and for way too many years!

Alas, somehow this man found time and energy to accomplish so much. Without Ted Kennedy there is no Affordable Care Act, for his leadership in the late 1960s and 1970s brought forth the Clinton effort and, now, the Affordable Care Act. (For naysayers, read The Medical Miracle by Paul

It’s a book kind of day. First up is encouraging news about the millennials. Adrienne LaFrance for The Atlantic reports on Pew poll in Millenials Are Out-Reading Older Generations. Interesting info; libraries beware!

From BuzzFeed I saw How Many of the Greatest Books by Women Have You Read? by staffer Arianna Rebolini. I skipped it, but I also skipped 100 Must-Read Books: The Essential Man’s Library at artofmanliness.com. Both lists seemed too parochial!

Now, being who I am, Have You Read the 200 ‘Best American Novels’? by Victoria Fleischer for the PBS Newshour caught my eye. The easy answer is no. Next come “not enough” and, finally, there’s 23!

So then I saw an FB post from a friend—actually,

I was planning a day off, until I realized it is September 11. That 13 years have passed boggles, truly!

Now, in the prior version of Mark Rubin Writes, I wrote NOTICE: IF YOU’RE A CONVENTIONAL THINKER, DON’T READ THIS POST! I REALLY MEAN IT!. Originally, it was in A Life at 50-ISH.

I argued, back in 2010, that we gave too much credence to what happened on 9/11/2001. Don’t misunderstand me, please. What happened was horrible beyond words, and I cannot imagine facing the task of responding “appropriately.” But, we were then and are now and have been for a very long time the most powerful nation on this planet, and al Qaeda lived in caves at

I spent Friday with Ms. J. It’s not often that she and I spend a non-holiday, no-weekend day together, but this one had a purpose. Ms. J works for The Nature Conservancy in its Arizona office. As part of her job she needs to visit preserves and properties around the state, and I’m a worthy chauffeur/overnight companion. (We do so well in the car together, truly!)

On this trip we were off to the Aravaipa Canyon Preserve. The preserve is northeast of my house, maybe about 50 miles. Alas, no one has seen fit to cut a road through the Santa Catalina Mountains for my convenience. In fact, no one has even built a road through the preserve,

Well, two more things, actually! First, here’s To Recline or Not to Recline? from Patrick Smith at Ask the Pilot, courtesy of a post shared by Joe Sharkey. Good, sensible thoughts!

Second, a couple of days ago a friend shared the story of a couple, second-time first class passengers, who asked an airline employee to find a couple in coach who might want to swap with them. That news put a smile on my face, and I thought it was news worthy of attention!