I wish I had a little more absolutism in my bones. I am fine enough on the tactical level. I made my living with serene certainty planning the use of a variety of weapons systems, ranging from the novel to the horrifying. But I always had the sense that what I was doing had an […]

Sound and Fury The wind blew cold across the capital yesterday, bone chilling for those on foot. I was that, at least partly. I took the car down across the 14th Street Bridge and tucked it into the garage under the Bus Depot. Then I took a cab to the Hill, and through the metal […]

Cab Fare I happened to have cab fare on me, and that is how I found myself in a taxi, headed across Chinatown and past the great marble bulk of Union Station, headed for the Heritage Foundation. The conservative think-tank had decided to issue some recommendations to streamline the Homeland Security Department, and the office […]

Brother Al I heard last night that Brother Al died after a brief fight against pancreatic cancer.  He died at home, leaving two sons and a granddaughter.  He also left ex-wife Jeannie, was still a good friend. Al was like that. He was one of the old Brothers at the Fraternity House. I will always […]

Tony Blair is a lame-duck Prime Minister, just as George Bush is at the end of his political life. Tony seems to be having more fun with it. He was doing a little saber-rattling with the Persians over their nuclear weapons program, and he was at his puckish best when they asked him about the […]

Birthday I was relieved to hear that my younger son passed the age of majority and lived. He arrived at the age of majority at college, and I had been concerned that he might not make it. I called him the afternoon of the day before the big day and told him not to do […]

There is a minor controversy raging out there in the science grove. Learned men and women, painfully shy of being accused of the dread sin of anthropomorphism, are beginning to consider the idea that animals have personalities. Anthropomorphism refers to our natural and sloppy way of attributing human motivation, characteristics, and behavior to animals, inanimate […]

Pain Killers I’m not going to negotiate with terrorists. That is my policy, and I am going to stick to it today. I wavered yesterday, muttering under my breath that I would put the whole policy up for review as the Acela train hurtled down the tracks toward Washington. Just not this train, not today. […]

Sizzle There is an eternal sameness to the Marriot Hotel chain, which is a good thing, since my room otherwise features a commanding view of New Jersey State Route 10. As the volume of traffic rises and cars hurtle toward the Short Hills and the City beyond. I wonder idly if the bin Laden tape […]

Camouflage At the end of the day, or at least in the part approaching twilight, I sometimes look back toward morning and wonder if I should have done something differently. Yesterday was wild and blowing wet. I’m not sure I could have done it differently, even if I had thought about it. The first call at […]