The Sandwich Century: #5 – The Bánh Mì Sandwich

It was bound to happen:  the Sandwich Century project has run head-on into the grim reality of living in San Antonio.  Oh, sure, we’re a 21st-century burg, and we have our share of Asians contending for their share of the Frito pie while Germans and Mexicans fight it out for …

Have An Opinion: The Great Upper-Class Swindle

It is a sign of the confidence — indeed, the audaciousness — of the current conservative movement that they are making real headway in an attempt to strangle the union movement, already gravely wounded, once and for all.  It was Reagan who dealt the unions their first critical blow beginning …

The Sandwich Century: #4 – The Baked Bean Sandwich

Desperate times call for desperate actions, and desperate people, apparently, call for desperate sandwiches.  While cheapness and ease of assembly are a big part of the appeal of the sandwich, they’re qualities it’s altogether too easy to overdo, and you end up with something that sullies the entire notion of …

You Think You’re So Smart: How Fat? Fat Like a Cow?

Humans are the only animals that can make metaphors or moral judgments.  Unfortunately, we make far too few of the former and far too many of the latter.  The appealing thing about placing social problems in a moral context is that it allows you to start ignoring the problem; if …

The Most Beautiful Fraud: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

I have never been particularly fond of Tennessee Williams.  Part of this may be because I’m not his intended audience, but with very few exceptions (I enjoy A Streetcar Named Desire), I find his stuff a little, well, airy for my taste.  Reading his plays and novels, and comparing them …