(11th DCI William Colby.  Photo Time-Life, Inc.) Sorry- I have been distracted. It is a soft gray Sunday morning, and it will wind up at the office presently to catch up on some projects that were deferred in the swirl of activity near and far. I was telling you about Jim Schlesinger and his report […]

(Baked eggs and Corned Beef comfort food. Photo Betty Crocker, bless her soul.) I am still stunned by the news of the suicide of a pal at her own hands. I have been told there is nothing I could have done, and I can appreciate that; the act of suicide being so awful and profound […]

(Nats Stadium at dusk with rain coming in. Photo Socotra.) I was at the desk, looking over some financials. There were many balls in the air; more than I knew possible. The skies were ominous to the west; we were supposed to go to a Nationals game with Joe, since his hometown Cards were in […]

My pal The Lawyer had returned to San Diego fast, and he called me up, furious. I was at the desk, looking out on a day in the Ballston neighborhood that was exquisite in its simple beauty. The heat was gone, and the women seemed to dress up for it. I wanted to go out […]

(Abraham Zapruder 8MM Camera And Film, 1963. Photo Bell & Howell.) “I’m here to make sure you don’t screw Richard Nixon.” – James Schlesinger’s first words upon becoming DCI in 1973 I mentioned yesterday that I looked at a film clip and got agitated. You can see it for yourself: it is not hard to […]

(Then-AEC Chairman Schlesinger with Pat and Dick Nixon, 1970) “Covering this upcoming election is like covering a competition between two Soviet refrigerator companies, cold-war relics offering products that never change.” –       David Brooks, NY Times token Hamiltonian pundit, today. (Loyal readers, there have been recent and unsettling allegations out there in the world-wide web. We […]

(Bath Iron Works’s fourth FLIGHT IIA Arleigh Burke Class AEGIS Destroyer USS McCamble proudly bears the name of Captain David S. McCampbell, the Navy’s all-time leading ace with 34 aerial victories during World War II. Photo US Navy.) The South China Sea might be the pivot on which the new century is going to turn. […]

My pal The Good Doctor probably smiled this morning with the news that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, architect of the East Africa Embassy bombings, was shot dead at a checkpoint in Mogadishu. It was local gendarmerie who settled his hash. Apparently the mastermind got lost, and this had nothing whatsoever with the CIA or JTF-Horn of […]

(The Lovely Aimee and Annook’s Revenge. Photo Socotra of Socotra.) I had lost one cuff link and the black tie by the time I got to Willow. I have no idea about either. I do not think I wrecked the Hubrismobile- I assume it is in the garage and there were no public safety personnel […]

(Villa of Mon Repose Palace, Corfu, Greece. Photo Wikipedia.) The Duke of Edinburough and I don’t have a great deal in common. He is tall guy, for a Greek, and looks more Scandinavian, though some might say German, if that didn’t have so much negative baggage over the ninety years the Prince Consort has been […]