ILF POST

By Ralph Keyes Several years ago we had to decide what kind of piano to buy for our children. Electronic keyboards were attractive because of their size, economy and versatility. But most reviews I read compared them to “real pianos.” (”Sounds almost like a real piano.”) This raised the question: if you’re looking for a [...]

By Ralph Keyes While on a long drive I found myself listening to an interview with R & B singer Bettye LaVette that I might not have heard otherwise. Lavette is a great talker. Much of what the 61 year-old soul singer talked about was a decades-long interlude when her career was [...]

By Ralph Keyes For seven evenings during the past two weeks I’ve been mesmerized by Ken Burns’s World War II series on PBS. Despite all that I’ve read about that conflict during the past half century, Burns succeeded in giving me new perspectives and fresh information, as well as incredibly moving moments. [...]

By Ralph Keyes I don’t care for Al Gore. His manner is too pedantic, too patronizing, as if he’s addressing a class of sixth graders and is trying to speak very slowly and enunciate with great care to make sure they get what he’s trying to say. Nonetheless, Gore is my top choice for [...]

By Ralph Keyes Nearly two decades ago, my wife and I fulfilled a fantasy by returning to the Ohio town where we went to college, met, and got married. In addition to our fondness for the town itself — Yellow Springs — we hoped to be of service to our alma mater, [...]

By Ralph Keyes At one time we had truth and lies. Now we have truth, lies, and statements that may not be true but we consider too benign to call false. Euphemisms abound. We’re “economical with the truth,” “sweeten it,”or tell “the truth improved.” The term deceive gives way to spin. At [...]

By Ralph Keyes
New York Times columnist David Brooks recently noted that some sperm banks won’t accept donors shorter than 5’9″. Since he himself falls in that category, Brooks seemed a bit aggrieved by this fact, but didn’t question its premise: that bigger is better. On the same day on the same [...]

By Ralph Keyes In recent elections politicians from both parties have assured voters that they share their values. In the last presidential race, George Bush repeatedly warned voters that John Kerry didn’t share their values. Kerry denied the charge, repeating ad nauseam that he did indeed share voters’ values.

By Ralph Keyes Al Gore’s various proposals for reducing carbon emission includes banning incandescent light bulbs. Fie. We’ve tried fluorescent bulbs, and still use some in our porch and basement. In general, however, we don’t like them. These bulbs give off a pallid hue and don’t emit enough light for our aging [...]

By Ralph Keyes

By Ralph Keyes Calls for “community” are in the mom-and-apple-pie category, an applause line for Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush alike. Few question the need for a greater sense of community. At the same time, advances we cherish loosen ties that bind. Cars permit sprawl. Air conditioners make front porches unnecessary. [...]

By Ralph Keyes Twenty years ago a veteran editor assured me that the market for memoirs was so saturated that they soon wouldn’t be able to give them away. Since then thousands more memoirs have been published, including bestsellers such as Angela’s Ashes, This Boy’s Life, and The Liar’s Club. Why should that [...]

By Ralph Keyes Aside from being a model of sanity and stability in the White House, Gerald Ford will always be remembered for something said about him: “He can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.” Actually that isn’t precisely what Lyndon Johnson said about his successor once removed. According to Washington insiders, [...]

By Ralph Keyes What to call the conflict in Iraq? Many newspapers and television networks ‘Fox excepted, of course’ are now calling it a civil war. The administration prefers “sectarian conflict.” They’re also partial to “the central front in the war on terror,” having exhausted “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

By Ralph Keyes I recently was invited to submit a statement on world peace to a peace museum in Uzbekistan. This museum’s website makes it seem legitimate. Yet I’m hesitant to respond. Why? Well, suppose it’s actually a Borat wannabe operation hoping I’ll say something they can make part of a joke?

By Ralph Keyes On Meet the Press recently, host Tim Russert asked a candidate for the Senate if she would vote to ban ‘partial-birth abortion.’ This illustrated how successful right-to-lifers have been in getting the press to adopt their terminology. Did I say right-to-lifers? I should have said those who oppose a [...]

By Ralph Keyes I don’t often agree with George Will, but nodded in agreement when he recently observed about the winner of Connecticut’s Democratic senatorial primary: “There you had Mr. Lamont on the night of his victory with Jesse Jackson gloating over one shoulder, and Al Sharpton gloating over the other shoulder [...]

By Ralph Keyes In 1968, I cast my first vote for president. That vote went to comedian-crusader Dick Gregory. At the time I was 23 and Gregory’s positions were closer to mine than those of Richard Nixon or Hubert Humphrey, so of course I’d want to vote for him right? What difference [...]