"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
If I have the story right, when Franklin Roosevelt first told the American people about the Doolittle Raid, information on how we got our bombers close enough to Japan to attack some of its major cities was still classified, so he reported that the planes had launched from “Shangri La.” Details of this week’s road trip were similarly classified. […]
Donna and I leave tomorrow on a road trip to a for-now classified destination. If we don’t have internet access where we’re going, you’ll hear from us later next week, when we get back. Meanwhile, those of you who suffer my rants on Facebook will enjoy a few days of peace. I try not to […]
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 […]
I am the Nancy Grace of celebrity plane wrecks. When I saw the first photos of actor Harrison Ford’s crashed airplane on the golf course in Santa Monica, I immediately zeroed in on the propeller. Probably only someone trained as an aircraft accident investigator would do that. I am such a someone, and that is what […]
I think of myself as progressive, at least when it comes to politics and public policy. Socially, I’m an embarrassment to the cause. Social progressives reject certain thoughts as seditious. One such thought is that some people “choose” to be gay. Based on all I know and have observed, sexual orientation is not a choice. We are what we are, gay or straight; most […]
May I speak frankly? We have a elderly out-of-town friend who comes to visit two weekends a year. He can barely walk, he has a constant wet cough, and lately he’s taken up belching (we think he has an esophageal obstruction of some kind). We’ve had to take him to the emergency room more than once. […]
No matter how much space my server company gives me, I’m always pushing the limits. Before I got smart about photos I loaded them onto the server, where they took up an ungodly amount of room. Four years ago I started uploading blog post photos to Flickr, where I have unlimited storage. The photos you see in newer blog […]
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 […]