The approach of this day filled me with dread- not the fear of it arriving, but rather the things that get swept along with birthdays. This had been an emotional week, what with the memorials and celebrations surrounding the ancient conflicts that shaped our world. At some point I had to turn to my own […]

I had a great little story line going for yesterday’s Daily. It had everything, or would have, if I hadn’t spent the morning at the Culpeper branch of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles office, on the left just off Lover’s Lane. They work miracles there- they can actually make time stop. Virginia is for […]

I was sitting with Admiral Mac nearly a decade ago at the Willow Bar. Life was good. We were all alive. It was the night on the eve of the Battle of Midway, the Navy’s greatest triumph. I was embarrassed the significance of the date did not come up, and that was sort of strange, […]

This has been a busy week for the amateur historians out there. The decisive battle at Midway began on the 4th, ending on the 7th. Two years later, Allied Forces made a bold gamble when Ike looked at the skies on June 5th, and decided the largest amphibious operation in history- and perhaps the most […]

(The crew of the PBY Catalina that sighted the Japanese fleet on the eve of the Battle of Midway). All the ceremonies surrounding the anniversary of the Battle of Midway are kicking off today. The vast distances involved meant that the epic struggle would play out over a week. In the parlance of today’s warfighters, […]

I was up way early- a little before 0400- and resigned myself to watching some of last night’s repeats on the flat-screen until the new programming started for the day. I assumed I was going to go back to bed, so I poured a little toddy to un-angrify the blood, quoting the immortal baseball star […]

We are not Big Ag down here, but we pride ourselves on being farm-to-table kind of people. This looks like a poor growing season, though the Russians have brought in the first honey of the year, and the chickens and turkeys seem enthusiastic in the morning. That enthusiasm is not universal. The buzzards have moved […]

It was a short break between dramas here in the Swamp. I would have thought that after three years everyone would want a bit of a break. I guess not. Two new parallel but completely opposed investigations are underway: Chairman Nadler subpoenaed everyone in the neighborhood around Big Pink to see if we know anything- […]

Friends, Colleagues and Shipmates: Former Director of Naval Intelligence Tom Brooks passed this along due to the special relationship between the Submarine Force and Naval Intelligence. Bill Manthorpe, former Deputy DNI added this: “I’m involved in this organization in Sarasota via Larry Stults (Debbie’s nephew) and Craig Harvey (Don’s son) basically I served as the […]

I can only watch so much of today’s news before I start to go catatonic. Accordingly, there has been a lot of Turner Classic Movie Channel occupying the flat screen. There are some great films- glittering, sprawling productions that featured actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood. We were watching “Around the World in 80 […]