Tuesday Bag o’ BS

Am I a bad man if I don’t buy the story of the terminally-ill boy who died in Santa’s arms? That heart-rending bit of clickbait was all over Facebook and Twitter yesterday. I knew it was bullshit but clicked on it anyway. Turns out there’s only one source for the story, that source being the man who plays Santa. A gullible […]

Tuesday Bag o’ Expectations

If anyone deserved to moderate a Trump-Clinton debate, it would have been Megyn Kelly. That was never going to happen, but Hillary made sure Megyn was there in spirit when she brought up Donald’s history of saying horrible things about women, specifically mentioning the Hispanic Miss Universe winner Trump later called “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housekeeping.” I can picture Megyn grinning from ear to ear over that.

Convention Watching

I’m watching the Democratic National Convention. Last week I watched the Republican National Convention. I don’t want to give the impression I’m obsessive about politics, but the coming election’s an important one and I want to know what forces are in play. Last week I watched prime time coverage of the RNC in Cleveland on network TV and […]

Never Read the Comments

I follow a retired Royal Navy aviator on Facebook, not because I know him but because he posts fascinating photos of older military aircraft, many of which he flew during his career. He typically says little about his photos, but his followers post comments, and up to now I thought they were an informed and experienced group. Yesterday he posted […]

Best You’ve Ever Seen?

I probably shouldn’t say anything about the latest social media witch hunt, but when has common sense ever prevented me from talking about things that upset people?

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

During our drive to New Mexico last week we had to stop at two US Border Patrol checkpoints, one on the White Sands Missile Range inbound to Alamogordo, the other homebound on I-10 between Las Cruces and Deming. We were racially profiled at the first one, which is to say the BP agent glanced at us […]

Air-Minded: Move Your Tail

When the Eagle got up to around Mach 0.95 you’d begin to feel resistance, as if the air was getting thicker and pushing back against your airplane. As you slipped past the shockwave and through the Mach the resistance went away and the airplane felt normal. The second you retarded the throttles, though, it was as though you’d run into an invisible Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man in the air. You and your jet and everything in it slowed down in a hurry, forcing you forward against the shoulder straps and seat belt. Once you were back below Mach 0.95, Mr. Stay-Puft went away and things felt normal again. Oh, and half your fuel was gone.