It was a bit of an awakening this year, and one filled with legitimate thanks. Last year’s spirit had a tinge of resentment to the enforced seclusion and mandate talk during the pandemic. Masks were still a big deal. The schools were in an uproar, and some of the response to the public health emergency […]

Waking up is a ritual we all share. We take it in different manners because we are individuals in a mass society. Splash is the duty iconoclast at Refuge Farm, and he was up before most of us. We think it is the effect of the winter chill being more palpable outdoors. But with the […]

There was controversy to start the day, and predictably it started on the other side of the bed. Which, having a certain rhyming imperative, Splash wanted to celebrate with the Mexican holiday, Día de Muertos. Of course, that doesn’t actually rhyme with our night-time resting place, unless you do it in English. As usual, he […]

Splash is not at his best on Saturday mornings, which is to say, when he is actually at his best it is better to just let him go where he is going, follow with mild interest, and let him blaze a path into the sort of reality he prefers. Some of us were up early. […]

We do not know if you are keeping track of the days. At Refuge Farm we are, mostly out of a sort of morbid curiosity about the biggest bill in the history of the United States Congress. It is supposed to be voted on this morning. A Friday. Rocket looked a little stunned. “If it […]

We ran a short piece about “Build Back Better” this morning. Chairman Socotra sent a note down from the Big House, saying he was pleased we did not pick up on the still-hanging jury in the Karl Rittenhouse case in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He prefers to let the wheels of justice spin their merry way and […]

Thursday is a big morning at The Farm. The Writer’s Section is responsible for showing up- in person- to defend past production, defer erroneous predictions, and justify ones not yet proven to be false. The meeting is right before lunch, not after, since Management knows what is likely to happen after that. Increasingly, it is […]

Remember the Burma Shave signs? I know, I know. Only oldsters remember them in fact. Most folks do have a passing acquaintance with parodies from modern information campaigns, and naturally we pile on like everyone else. We had a talk about that in the pre-production meetings. It started, naturally enough, with the topic of “shaving,” […]

(Danny Fenster hugs mother Rose as Bill Richardson, right, looks on this morning. Danny was released from a Burmese jail yesterday after conviction by a military court last Friday, and immediately departed on a flight to the U.S. Press accounts indicate Bill escorted him on the flight, which accounts for why it was difficult to […]