"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
In the news
Report Uncovers Astronauts’ Heavy Alcohol Use. Oh my. Here’s what I read between the lines of the linked article: NASA, in the wake of the Lisa Nowak incident, has been busy hunting witches in the astronaut program. Astronaut pilots, astronaut mission specialists, and astronaut flight surgeons are turning on each other. It must be a horrible […]
Saturday: early morning bike ride followed by a visit to our local coffee shop. Weekly yard chores. Worked on my other blog, fixing old entries that got screwed up when I upgraded to the latest version of WordPress (this blog, by the way, has been edited and is back up to speed). Went to the […]
My God, we started our Saturday morning bike ride at 6:30 and were toast by 8:00, with a few miles still to go. But we gutted it out to the end, then sat outdoors . . . albeit under patio umbrellas . . . at our local coffee shop. My one concession to the heat was drinking […]
Our Saturday morning bicycle ride gets earlier and earlier. In the winter we started at 9:00 AM. Today we started at 7:00 AM, but it was already 95 degrees by the time we finished, so next week we’re starting at 6:30 AM. I suppose by the time daily highs reach 110-115 degrees, we’ll be meeting […]
Paris Hilton sat in a cell, Paris Hilton felt rather unwell, All her great fortune and lawyerly men, Couldn’t spring Paris Hilton again. Hah! So there! Justice is served! Still, something about this morality play makes me feel . . . well, manipulated. Aren’t there other, more important people who should be in jail? While we focus […]
I was hoping something would happen to shift the media’s attention away from Imus. Another Britney meltdown, a runaway bride, something like that. But nothing like the horrific shootings at Virginia Tech. In the wake of the Columbine High School shootings, it became more difficult for kids to be different, at least in dark ways. […]
Could there possibly be a scrap of flesh left on Imus’ bones? Apparently so, because the media’s still munching on ’em. If the British press, with its fixation on the Royals, weren’t even worse than ours, I’d be embarrassed to be an American. Shame on every newsperson and news outlet that gave the story more […]
Toward the end of my military career, US Air Force Chief of Staff General Merrill McPeak instituted a host of changes. He was one of those egomaniacs who, put into a position of great power, are compelled to change everything. He killed Strategic Air Command. He made us rewrite every USAF regulation because he didn’t like the word “regulation.” He […]