Getting information out of prisoners is a thorny ethical proposition. Maybe I should rephrase that. Getting accurate information is hard, and one should avoid situational ethics as a matter of principle. The Police are always at the edge of it, much more so than the military or the Spooks. They have always had their ways […]

Japanese surrender at Yokosuka Naval Base 1945 The President just vetoed the Intelligence Authorization. He has his reasons, and he explained them. He said that the CIA should not be limited in interrogation to the practices outlined in the Army Field Manual, which is what the Congress thinks is appropriate. I personally am against torture […]

Portrait of the Willow Girl It was raining, good rain, light but steady. Soaking over time, not a deluge that scours the caustic substances from the blacktop and rushes it to the storm drain and straight into the Potomac in a toxic flood. Hillary’s national campaign headquarters across the alley had gained some color. The […]

The dawn is coming just before six these days. Congress is going to change that this Sunday, slipping the earth on its axis like a kid spinning the cylinder on a Smith & Wesson wheel-gun. No good will come of this mischief, mark my words. There are all sorts of implications. For one, it means […]

I could have sworn it was the running dream back again, except I knew from the clicking of the heels of my dress shoes on the shiny composite floor that this was painfully real. The taste of gin was on my lips. I had been scheduled to have dinner with some business people, but the […]

I have discovered a foolproof method of predicting elections, and it costs me nothing. I provide it here at no direct charge to the taxpayer. There is no such thing as a free lunch, so I have to insert the word “direct” in that sentence, a disclaimer required at the insistence of my legal staff. […]

I have discovered a foolproof method of predicting elections, and it costs me nothing. I provide it here at no direct charge to the taxpayer. There is no such thing as a free lunch, so I have to insert the word “direct” in that sentence, a disclaimer required at the insistence of my legal staff. […]

Nortrop-Grumman EADS KC-30 Aerial Tanker with Friend I was thinking about money this morning, or rather, trying not to think about it. You probably were, too. You cannot get around it. The markets sank again on yet another deluge of bad news about the burden of the crappy mortgages- one of the big holders were […]

Nortrop-Grumman EADS KC-30 Aerial Tanker with Friend I was thinking about money this morning, or rather, trying not to think about it. You probably were, too. You cannot get around it. The markets sank again on yet another deluge of bad news about the burden of the crappy mortgages- one of the big holders were […]

It is Trooper Bart’s Birthday, my former Congressman. He only gets one every four years, so he is holding a fundraiser. If my legal address was still in his District Up North, I would consider a small donation for his current campaign for Congress. They are all up for election this season, and you never […]