"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
Damn the torpedoes . . . full speed ahead!
No, I haven’t turned into a teabagger. This is one of my periodic “bag” posts, a collection of links and short observations that by themselves wouldn’t get a post of their own. ——————– As a motorcycle rider, I’ve always thought there’s something wrong with law enforcement and the courts when it comes to cagers who […]
When I started conducting walking tours at the Pima Air & Space Museum a few months ago, I quickly realized I’d talk myself hoarse if I didn’t overcome a certain egotistical reluctance to use a portable voice amplifier and speaker. The museum had two but they were big heavy things, each one powered by eight […]
I don’t mean to toot my own horn as a veteran … I had it easy in the military, and as a fighter pilot had the best job anybody could possibly have … but I thought you’d enjoy the photo. Yes, we were young (believe it or not, we still feel the way we looked […]
Air-minded. Wow. There’s a phrase I haven’t heard since I was an air-minded kid. I ran into it again this morning in an online article at The Awl. “Are You Airminded?” The Slang Of War “Airmindedness” is a term that used to be everywhere and now it’s nowhere. The word, as defined by the OED, […]
In the wake of bin Laden’s death, political pressure is mounting for a quick withdrawal from Afghanistan. We were leaving anyway: Obama announced months ago that we are going to draw down force levels there, and we’re already in the process of bringing troops home from Iraq. What happens when the troops come home? Unless […]
Here’s a Facebook exchange from this morning. Everyone involved (including me) is from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, home town of local hero Rush Limbaugh. Apparently, this is how the folks in AM radio country are going to denigrate Obama’s leadership and great victory: We got Osama because George W. Bush put Afghanistan on the back burner […]
The news began to come in around 7:30 last night. I was losing interest in a violent, depressing prison movie, so I picked up my smart phone to skim the latest on Twitter. A few informed people, mostly news types, were just beginning to tweet about Osama bin Laden’s possible death. Over the next half […]
That Michigan state senator who wants to force foster children to wear only hand-me-downs because he personally “never had anything new”? Detroit journalist and blogger Nancy Nall has this to say about him: Caswell is 61. He “never” had anything new. So why should anyone else? Look what it did for him: He graduated from […]