(Birther view of the President’s Certification of Live Birth) There are only two directions in the islands- toward the mountain, or Mauka, or toward the sea, Makai.   That is an oversimplification, or course, since on the island of O’ahu, you can also head Ewa (West) or Diamond Head (East), or Windward (NE) or Leeward […]

(BBQ Beans in Authentic Styrofoam Cup with Plastic Spoon) I have a pal whose Dad has the same birthday as mine does- they are both in their late 80’s now, and they have done it again. My pal is close enough that he will be able to give his congratulations in person. I sent flowers […]

(Far East Network Microphone)   This cycle about Bobbie K. Hubbard will come to an end today, though my memories of him will not. Hubs crossed over the great change in South East Asia, and in his final gesture to eternity, decided to stay there forever in the quiet cemetery in Angeles City, Republic of […]

(Clark Cemetery, Angeles City, R.P.)   A long time ago, in a place far away, on this very day of the year, the Army Air Crops dispatched Colonel Paul Tibbets on a special mission. There are pictures of him waving from his hastily-christened B-29 serial number 44-86292 Enola Gay just before take-off.   He and […]

(Club B-29 Portrait) Olongapo is gone, the one we knew, but it lives in dreams. Fevered dreams, the mind’s lens distorted by alcohol and desire, and lubricated by sweat.   It is quite over, and has been for years, since Mount Pinatubo blow its stack and gave everyone the excuse to end the acrimony.   […]

(Master Chief Bobbie K. Hubbard, USN-Ret) Former President Clinton is in Pyongyang, trying to extricate two journalists who were kidnapped by the North Koreans. That is the usual way one winds up in North Korea, either by force or on a mission to get someone sprung.   The only time I made it to the […]

(US Military KIA Returned With Honor Under Concurrent Return) The return of the last MIA from the first Gulf War is a signal moment. It is the first American war overseas in which everyone lost is now accounted. Scott Speicher was the last one to come home.   It is too soon to say if […]

(Grave of Brigadier John Nicholson, Indian Army, Delhi)   Home is where you chose to be, at the end of the long day, and they say that is the place where they cannot refuse to take you in.   Scott Speicher is home, via Dover Air Force Base, after a very long time away.   […]

(Down by the Bow) You may have noticed that the once-vaunted naval power of the artist formerly known at the Soviet Union has hit a slippery patch.   You may also not care; goodness knows there is enough to worry about elsewhere. Here in the sultry Imperial it is possibly more urgent to contemplate that […]

  (Nat King Cole’s Greatest Hit)   This is20more like it. The air is heavy with moisture, and sweat beads the forehead and rolls down under the shirt. Sit in the car for anylength of time and our back becomes a great dark blob of sweat.   The feeling of the air conditioning in the […]