(As a shut-in, I have been collecting funny pictures of animals. This Super Groundhog is courtesy of the nice people at Polite Dissent, copyright 2006. It is a fine line between a hobby and madness, as Mr. Barry notes.)   I hate snipers, IEDs and fire in about that order. Floods are acts of the […]

I can’t do irony this morning, or try to highlight some particular aspect of the stupidity of Life in These United States.   I am listening to the press conference at Coronado High School in Colorado Springs. The Fire and Police chiefs are there, and the incident commander and the Forest Service and the Mayor. […]

(Vigilant Chinese monitor PRC claims in the South China Sea. Image by artist Sun Ying.) I got up, marveling that I could stand briefly unassisted and make the bed. The start to Day 32 of recuperation seems like a good one. What did you think about Arizona and the Supreme Court? It seems like a […]

There is an air of unreality here in Washington. It is muggy, people are looking forward to the holiday next week, and the moist cold-and-hot cycle in the weather continues. It may have something to do with the pattern of the jet stream, which is influenced by the Pacific Decadal Oscillation or the effect of […]

(All-electric Tesla S sedan. Slick car for only $105,000. Photo NY Times).   I am at an intersection this morning, metaphorically, anyway, and in keeping with that line of thought, am hobbling across it on my mental crutches and trying to deal with a minor case of gas.   It took a placid day yesterday […]

I am sure there is something to be outraged about this morning. I can’t rev up the energy to get too upset about the coming increase in the rate of interest charge to Pell Loans. I listened to some earnest pundits talking about it. The President made it a big deal, like the Bad Congress […]

(Amazon.com’s version of the Showermatic Support System, a revolutionary support system for stinky shut-ins. Photo Amazon.) The Taliban is having a great day, if you have not heard. They hit a lakeside resort yesterday and murdered around fourteen people- guests and security people- and there is something else in the Kabul metro area that has […]

(I am not sure, but since I have been gone, Jim may have entered the witness protection program. All photos Socotra.) Ah, the longest day of the year! Wait, before Old Jim beats me up for a deplorable for lack of precision, it is actually the day with the most sunlight of the year. The […]

“Rio+20 will be one of the most important global meetings on sustainable development in our time.” – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Mubarak? Not quite rest in peace time for the old man as I go to press, but close enough. I guess that is to be expected when a life-time job and a nation is […]

It feels out of control this morning. Not that it ever was in control, mind you. I thought maybe I would be feeling a certain buoyancy with the funerals and the estate crap in the rear view, but instead, I have a curious sense of emptiness and dead air. I would not have expected it. […]