Author’s Note: We were going to just wish the Marines in the crowd a “Happy Birthday” this morning. They are 248 years old, institutionally, this morning and they make us all a little proud. My son and I share experience with Marine Drill Instructors, though neither of us were members of the Corps. A special […]

There was a vote heldyesterday, and they called it a “General Election,” though we did not recognize the General Officer for whom we voted. There were some startling results in the voting and some others that were not. Considering the social tumults in process outside the polling station, it evoked all sorts of emotion. We […]

Goodness! We have entered into that transitional period in the calendar here in Your Nation’s Capital! It could be mild or chilly. The skies above could be like the ones in the image below- steel gray with a dusting of moist snow. We have only two holidays to get through in the next few weeks. […]

So, good afternoon fellow campers! It is the weekend at last and we can luxuriate in the splendor of the weekend. There is more, of course. Antisemitism is sweeping our little town. There will be demonstrations today on the other side of the big river. The protests are wide-wide in scope and intensely, which is […]

It is Sunday, and we are just sitting here in the powered reclining chair looking at some remarkable stuff. The guy pictured below was elected Mayor of his little town and ruled his town through the combination of politics and religion. His Sunday job was as Minister of thee congregation of the local Baptist Church. […]

There was some discussion around the Patio about how to handle the second Dia de la Muertos. As you now, holidays that last longer than a single day present unique challenges. The ‘Day of the Dead” is one of our imported holidays. This one has its roots in Mexico and is a blend of Meso-american […]

So, if the American Melting Pot got melted and no longer works, it may be time to start wondering about what is coming next. We will be returning to The Grand Tour of Europe as a means of comparing and contrasting our befuddling times with those that have come before. It is a curious thing. […]

If this were a just and ordered world, there would have been a serious discussion in these pages a few days ago about the bold plan conceived by VADM Bud Zumwalt and supported by Rex in late 1968 to bring the riverine war to the enemy. To do so, Bud dispatched small, heavily-armed and lighted-armored […]

01 December 2001 Treatments There was a time in the not-too-distant past when we were concerned about screenplays. It came up again suddenly as we talked about the Grand Tours of other Generations. In many respects, the dramatic transformation of entertainment and news is startling but hardly new. It is something that has happened before. […]

I’ve read several articles over the past few weeks that talk about Israel’s rage at the attack on October 7th, each of them insisting that Israel must contain its rage, that the rage will not solve any problem, it will only make it worse. Israel’s actions are, either explicitly or implicitly labeled as unreasonable, as […]