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This is Sinterklaas, the Dutch Santa. Formerly the Archbishop of Turkey, Sint Nicolaas, Sinterklaas is shown with two of his Zwarte Pieten (there are six to eight Zwarte Pieten — “Black Petes” — originally Moorish slaves, but today more gently described as servants or even companions). Sinterklaas arrives in The Netherlands each November by steamboat […]
A zippier title for this post would be State Secrets & Shit Lists, but I’ll refrain. The way the authoritarians in our midst are calling for Julian Assange’s assassination, I can’t help thinking of Orwell’s 1984, where the citizens of Oceania turned to their viewscreens once a day for the Two Minutes Hate directed against […]
My Nook e-reader came with a copy of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Although prudishly Edwardian, it’s still a great read, full of fascinating vampire lore. I thought I knew all that stuff from movies I’d watched as a kid, but after reading the original, I realize the movies got a lot of it wrong. Since reading […]
Former Senator Ted Stevens has been killed in a plane crash near Dillingham, Alaska. No, I never worked directly for Ted Stevens, but I do think of him as a former boss. I was an F-15 pilot at Elemendorf AFB in Anchorage from 1982 to 1985, flying for what we all fondly called “Ted Stevens’ […]
What’s in Paul’s grab bag? Unconnected thoughts and short observations which don’t rate separate blog posts, but when aggregated together might amount to something: A Society of Snitches? One of the more worrisome things about Arizona’s anti-immigrant law, which takes effect two weeks from now, is the provision that “allows a person to bring an action […]
What’s in Paul’s grab bag? Unconnected thoughts and observations which don’t rate separate blog posts, but when aggregated together might amount to something: Recently Overheard: “I knew the car companies were going under 20 years ago, when the union guys started making six figures and buying summer homes.” — attorney friend at a house party […]
I’m not taking credit for this, but I spent a couple of hours on base yesterday for an annual physical and noticed that all the public area televisions were set to CNN and NBC. Not one was set to Fox News. I wonder if the letter I sent in September 2009 had anything to do with […]
As of today, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is implementing a military-wide modification to current Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, pending congressional repeal of DADT. Gay servicemen and women who have been outed by jilted partners or third parties will no longer be forcibly discharged, so long as they don’t out themselves. Since President Obama […]