Down Mexico Way

We have an old tri-motor freighter at Pima Air & Space Museum. It’s a YC-125 Raider, one of 23 built by Northrop for the US Air Force, which flew the type from 1950 to 1955. After they were declared surplus, most were purchased by bush operators in South America, Central America, and Mexico. Ours flew […]

Paul’s Book Reviews: Nonfiction, Thrillers, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction

English has a lot of synonyms for “fool” or “idiot.” Perhaps you take this to mean that English speakers are mean-spirited; I simply reply that necessity is the mother of invention. —Kory Stamper, Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper Without naming the […]

Friday Bag o’ Bloggage

With Hurricane Harvey due to strike a heavily-populated part of the Texas Gulf Coast later tonight, potentially dumping rain that will be measured in feet, not inches, it’ll be interesting to see what manner of leadership this White House is capable of. Has it struck anyone else that while Trump constantly lays into the New York […]

Air-Minded: Tactical Callsigns

This one’s from the Air-Minded archive, originally published in December 2004. When I flew fighters, my tactical callsign was Skid. How did I get a name like that? Simple: I blew a tire. But enough about my sex life! Callsigns, as often as not, are based on screw-ups, minor mishaps, and embarrassing personal traits. I […]

Wednesday Bag o’ Eclipse Mania

I enjoyed all the photos posted to social media by friends who made the trek to Idaho and Oregon, standing together looking skyward with blinders on. Honestly, though, those photos would have been more interesting if giant buckets of ice had been involved. Which is to say the eclipse was two whole days ago and why is my Facebook and Twitter timeline still cluttered with eclipse posts? Get a grip, people!

You Can’t Read That!

You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post featuring banned book reviews and news roundups. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie will stay part of the ninth-grade English curriculum in Sauk Prairie, Wisconsin. Schlump: The tragic story behind a forgotten masterpiece, a fascinating bit of history about one of many […]

Do I Feel a Draft?

Those assholes in khaki Dockers and white Polos we saw chanting “blood and soil” in Charlottesville? Had they spent a few years in the military, working alongside the rest of us, they never would have been carrying those torches in the first place.