PH: Alzheimer Nation

THE historic Army and Navy Club is being smashed by construction crews to give way to a modern structure that would feature, among other things, a spa. In modern countries, even ancient trees in the busiest strips of the metropolis are protected from despoliation and any attempt to mow them down with chainsaws would set off furious alarms.

And in the case of the Club, we are talking about a grand place built at the turn of the past century where American army generals and navy admirals did everything -- from swapping war stories, to getting dead drunk, to engaging in dangerous trysts and liaisons.