Monthly Archives: July 2012

Santa Maria di Negrar

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The narrow winding road from Santa Maria di Negrar to Verona was flanked by lush green vineyards and well-tended gardens overflowing with vegetables. The river Adige with its beautiful Roman bridge, Ponte Pietra, built in 100 BC, dominated the Verona landscape. Higher on the banks was Castel San Pietro, built on ruins that dated back to 1389. The city walls, erected between the bridges Ponte di Pietra and Ponte Postumio alongside the river Adige as protection against 12 ft. floods, could be seen in a panoramic view from the castle’s terrace.
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Lessons from the Derecho Storm

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On June 29, 2012, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Washington D.C. and the surrounding suburbs were devastated by 60-80 MPH straight-line winds called “derecho,” Spanish for straight. The term “derecho” is new to me; we always called them straight-line winds in the south. We lived through such winds blowing over 100 mph. Emergency crews from other states rushed in to help and power was restored within a week. The debris cleanup and repairs to property were much slower.
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The Not So Affordable Obamacare Taxes

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Political pundits have been eating crow since the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare. Nobody foresaw that the individual mandate to buy insurance would be judged as a tax. Everyone expected the court to find the individual mandate unconstitutional since it would be forcing Americans to buy something as a condition of their mere existence.
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