(USCG Seaman 2/c John “Punchy” Cullen, 1942) It is cool outside, for the last day of August, and if you had not noticed, it’s Monday. I feel a little punchy. Not enough sleep, I fear.   It was a nice enough weekend, but the Blackberry kept buzzing right through and there was never a moment […]

(The Two-Faced Roman God)   I am going to briefly touch on an important part of the story of the missing Nazis this morning. I have a proposal to write, and a trip down to see Heckle and Jeckel, the feral Kat Kings of Culpeper County.   If I had the time, I would explain […]

(Radio Intercept Operator)   You cannot go far wrong in the study of history if you attribute the reasons things happen to money and sex. That is the joy and curse of the human condition; then, it is a simple matter of overlying the unique but common templates of individual tribes (or amalgams of tribes […]

(J. Edgar Hoover as Self Caricature)   Well, all right. I told you we were going to spin a tale this cycle, and it is going to be a wild one.   The bulldozers attacking what is left of the row of Buckingham garden apartments are making noise like thunder this morning. One part of […]

(Alexander Robey Shepherd (1835 – 1902), better known as Boss Shepherd)   We were embarked on the Odyssey, a sleek gas-topped pleasure boat that provided magnificent views of the Imperial City as we plied a carefully orchestrated route south on the Potomac, north again with a turn just north of Blue Plains, and then to […]

(The Lion on one of his Good Days)   The subject of the moment- the culmination of a life- is what smacked me as I padded around the kitchen. The door to the balcony was opened immediately, and with the first gray light, he heavy equipment is knocking down the main structure of the Buckingham […]

(Service Employees International Union Shirt from the Web Store)   It was a busy Monday, back again from the road and with way too much to think about.   On the crowded plane coming back from Chicago was a man who had made me think. He was of a certain age, looked like he was […]

(Boss Cherry 1970 AMC AMX Muscle Car) I just got back from the Bill Socotra Rambler Rally in Angola, Indiana. It will be Bill’s last appearance, or at the very least, the last one that Mom will drive him to.   She already said as much, weeks ago, when this loomed on the horizon and […]

Morning in Chi-town. Up crashing around trying to get in the rental car and down the road to Indiana. The cabbie we engaged for the trip down to the Webber Grill on Chicago’s Loop was from Lahore. He thinks this is a great town, and has been here for 25 years. He bummed a smoke, […]

(The Single Payer System I know and Love) You know I have tried to avoid this as long as I could. I have kept my voice down, and tried to be as polite as possible. But the time has come.   President Obama apparently had an afternoon chat vie teleconference with religious leaders yesterday, breaking […]