Thursday Bag o’ Triggers

This, from an article in the Columbia Daily Spectator: “During the week spent on Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses,’ the class was instructed to read the myths of Persephone and Daphne, both of which include vivid depictions of rape and sexual assault. As a survivor of sexual assault, the student described being triggered while reading such detailed accounts […]

Air-Minded: Planes of Fame Photoblog I

During last week’s motorcycle trip, I visited the Planes of Fame Museum in Valle, Arizona. The main Planes of Fame Museum is located in Chino, California; the Arizona adjunct is what I would call an overflow facility. It’s off the beaten track, located halfway up the lonely road between Williams, Arizona and the South Rim […]

Another Day, Another Letter

Oh boy, Fox News again. Last Thursday Donna and I drove to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base so she could renew her military identification card. The pass & ID office was packed, and Fox News was playing on the TV in the waiting room. Yes, military members skew conservative. Yes, many of my colleagues feel Fox News is “their” […]

Saturday Bag o’ Bawdy

I started learning and collecting bawdy songs when I was in the Air Force; every fighter squadron I flew with had an unofficial songbook (that’s one of my old squadron songbooks on the left). Midway through my USAF career I started running with the Hash House Harriers, who, like rugby players and fighter pilots, share a love […]

Air-Minded: Letting the Team Down

I don’t have any brilliant thoughts or insights about Germanwings Flight 9525, where the co-pilot is suspected of committing mass murder by flying a plane full of passengers into a mountain in the Swiss Alps. I’m sad and shocked, of course, that any pilot would do such a thing. I’ve always considered military and commercial flying a profession; […]

Air-Minded: “I’ve Never Seen the Knife More Dull”

Institutionally, the military services have never forgotten the crippling constraints imposed upon the conduct of the air war in Vietnam: Target lists were reviewed at the White House in the informal atmosphere of the Tuesday lunch, attended principally by President Johnson, his press secretary, the Secretaries of State and Defense, and the President’s special assistant for national […]

Air-Minded: Heritage Flight Photoblog 2015

Once a year, civilian warbird and USAF fighter pilots meet at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona, to practice close formation flying for the upcoming airshow season. The program, which features historical and current military aircraft, is called Heritage Flight. The annual practice session at DMAFB is the Heritage Flight Training and Certification Course. I don’t think […]

Critters, Car Trips, Culture Wars

The dogs had their teeth cleaned Tuesday. You who do not have dogs might not know what a big deal this is. Antibiotics and anesthesia, and in Maxie’s case more antibiotics after, because in addition to the cleaning she had to have a couple of rotten teeth extracted. The girls were just coming out of anesthesia when […]