(Main Navy and Munitions, Washington, DC. Official navy Photo) The rescue of the Chilean miners seemed to be going like clockwork, and the whole thing was a marvel. It appeared they would all be out of the hole by midnight. Peter glided by the cocktail nook and topped up my glass. Mac sipped on his […]

We were at Willow, naturally, but I was not at the bar talking to the Mikes and Ray. Sabrina was taking good care of us, and this was a Mac interview. We were over in the conversation nook in the front corner of the restaurant. There was a lot to talk about as usual, when […]

(“33 of us are well in the Refuge,” the text of the note taped to the initial relief probe at the San Jose Mine.)   I am riveted to the account of the mine rescue this morning, along with everyone else even vaguely connected to the rest of the world.   The journey for the […]

(Table of Contents from the inaugural issue of “Inspire,” the English-language magazine of al Qaeda on the Arabian Penninsula. Copyright 2010 AQAP.) “Our audacity, at times, tempts us to feel content with our current level of devotion and ‘Ibadah.  The internet becomes our dawa, the masjid our hangout, the brothers – da brothas.  Our ‘Ibadah […]

(Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander. Photo Copyright 2009 Music Box Films.) I rose this morning to discover that two Americans, and a third man, a holder of British and Cypriot passports, have won the 2010 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science. It continues a streak of awards for this cycle for accomplishment in things I […]

(F-14 Tomcat fighter makes a close-aboard pass. Official US Navy photo.)   What a magnificent day it was, marred only by a football game that I attempted, with some success, to ignore. I had to get the Harley cleaned up to make the best possible impression on a prospective buyer who failed to show up. […]

(Lazy, low-bandwidth Saturday at Refuge Farm, Photo Socotra) I am suffering the pangs of lower bandwidth down at the farm. Got up at five and looked out at the darkness the cloaked the pastures and outbuildings and decided, “Why?”   So I rolled over on the termperpedic bed and slept to seven thirty, feeling delightfully […]

(Nobel Laureate for Literature Gabriel García Márquez with shiner provided by Nobel Laureate for Literature Mario Vargas Llosa. Photo Copyright 1976 Rodrigo Moya) You need to watch out for what you wish for. It can come true.   I was buying Power-ball tickets with a co-worker the other day, trying to figure out whether it […]

(Roy Halladay at work. Photo by  Chris Trotman, copyright 2010 Getty Image) We were at Willow, the usual suspects, and we were clustered down at the low-rent end of the bar.   Jake commented that it was getting too popular and there was no place to sit down for the regulars. He was talking to […]

(Bridge over Charles River at dusk, Cambridge, MA, 2002. Photo Socotra.) When I looked at it later, I realized it was one of the nicest pictures I have ever taken, and of course I had nothing whatsoever to do with it.   An artist friend was quite enamored of it, and did a stunning poster-sized […]