Franz Kafka lives on in Hong Kong and Washington OPINIONS – LISTEN TO THIS In Franz Kafka’s 1925 novel, The Trial, Prague bank clerk Joseph K is arrested but not told why. He was informed neither of the nature of the purported crime nor the names of the accusers. He is left to speculate about what was going on. On May 22, 2025 I was notified by … Continue reading Franz Kafka Is Alive in Hong Kong and Washington
August 23, 2026. The Daily Friend.co.za The need to reprise a golden age of foreign reporting OPINIONS – LISTEN TO THIS After the First World War and disastrous 1919 Paris peace accord, four young American would-be journalists rolled up on European shores. Three were Midwesterners – Vincent Sheean from rural Illinois, John Gunther from Chicago, and William Shirer from Iowa. The fourth and oldest, Dorothy Thompson, … Continue reading We Need to Reprise a Golden Age of Foreign Correspondence
American Dispatch The Daily Friend August 9, 2026 Creative Destruction: America’s Losers and Winners OPINIONS – LISTEN TO THIS Joseph Schumpeter in 1942 coined the term creative destruction where innovation renders old economic models obsolete. Technology marches on. Embrace the new or die. Companies that are slow or fail to adapt die slowly or suddenly. Textiles are an example. In early 19th century New England there were dozens … Continue reading Creative Destruction…America’s Losers and Winners
(The Weekend Financial Times Saturday had a nice feature featuring stories from contributors about a summer that changed them. Reading, I was prompted to write my own recollection.) The Summer That Changed Me It was the summer of 1971. I was teaching at Western Michigan University and it had been a tumultuous year. Needing to decompress and ponder my future, together with my girlfriend I … Continue reading The Summer of 1971
Barry D. Wood 