Germany Frustrates the Russian Grinch, Saves Energy and Opens Christmas Markets Amid Mulled Wine and Merriment

Dispatch

There are more than 2.2 billion Christians throughout the world and during the month of December it often seems most of them are spending Christmas in Germany. They come to walk respectfully through vaulted cathedrals where relics of ancient saints are entombed. Or visit palaces once belonging to Holy Roman Emperors. Some find their way to Bayreuth’s 1750 Opera House to marvel at the intricate Baroque carving. But if pressed to admit what really appeals to them about cold Decembers in Germany most visitors admit they come for the Christmas markets.

Burn Pits More Smelly than Toxic

Dispatch

This week President Biden will sign legislation guaranteeing extended healthcare and disability benefits to military veterans exposed to toxic burn pits. Burn pits are common in war zones on temporary fire bases lacking sewage or secure trash collection. My first experience with them occurred in Vietnam when I encountered two Spec 4s grimly pulling tubs of — What is that?? — from beneath an elevated privy.

The Day I Almost Died

Dispatch

The day I almost died was a sunny Sunday 50 years ago this week. I was a 24-year-old Time Magazine correspondent in Saigon who along with photographers Dirck Halstead and LeMinh Thai decided to get an early start on the week by driving north up Highway 13 to meet a company of South Vietnamese marines. Their goal: March to the Cambodian border and lift the siege of An Loc, a tiny rubber town founded by the French that had been encircled by the Viet Cong for three months.

Poupon U for Students Who Can Cut the Mustard

Dispatch

You’re familiar with Purdue and Princeton. You know about Penn State and Pitt. But are you aware of Poupon U? It’s a small culinary institute in Middleton, six miles outside Madison, WI. You won’t find it on U.S. News & World Report’s Best College Rankings but, rest assured, all its students can cut the mustard. At the center of Poupon U sits the Mustard Museum, a repository of more than 6,300 different mustards.

Traveling During a Pandemic Article

The risks and rewards of Global Travel

Dispatch

By David DeVoss Covid-19. Shuttered bars and restaurants. Urban lockdowns. Mask fatigue. Curfews. Canceled holiday gatherings. Want to get away? Well, why not? There’s never been a better time to travel. Like anything, there are risks and benefits to global travel during a pandemic. There are bargains everywhere you look. Want to fly from New…

Sitting Here in Limbo

Dispatch

By David DeVoss Los Angeles isn’t such a bad place to be when it comes to social distancing. April’s warm sunshine has replaced the rainy weeks of March. Grocery stores are open and relatively well stocked. There’s no sense of panic despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Rarely do you hear the wail of an ambulance.…

Anthony Marcus Paul

Anthony Marcus Paul

Dispatch

In the days before fake news and blogging – back when the term “fair and balanced” didn’t mean biased and skewed – professional journalists dedicated to the factual reporting of real news roamed the earth. One of the best was Anthony Marcus Paul, an American educated Australian who covered Asia from 1972 until his death last month at age 81.

Tony Paul was a gifted editor and war correspondent, whom I met in 1977 when both of us were based in Hong Kong. We covered Southeast Asia, myself for Time Magazine and Tony for the Reader’s Digest, which at that time was the world’s largest selling magazine with a circulation of 23 million.