I’d been doing a good job of keeping my thoughts brief, until I perused the Fish Wrapper site today looking for news of something other than the massacre at Virginia Tech. Not that those terrible events weren’t worthy of considerable… Continue Reading
Today I read a story about Black Tom. Black Tom used to be an island in the mouth of the Hudson River. Ninety years ago, there was a massive explosion on the island, which was felt as far away as… Continue Reading
Imagine this. The Iranian Navy sends a boat out from its far-western port of Bandar-e Mahshahr to patrol against smugglers. The boat finds a Saudi-flagged ship it does not recognize in their territorial waters, and sends over a boarding party… Continue Reading
I expressed skepticism that the surge would work at the outset; the plan seemed like “more of the same, only moreso.” There have been what seems to be an accelerated number of car bombings, and a lot of reports of… Continue Reading
Yes, this is a big deal. But I haven’t got the time to look at it in detail right now and it is likely there isn’t much to learn right at this moment anyway. Maybe later tonight we’ll know more.
I went to bed early and haven’t really watched Letterman in years. So it’s not a surprise that I missed John McCain’s remark that American lives have been “wasted” in Iraq. Nor is it a surprise that McCain would be… Continue Reading
That is a picture of a refugee from Taliban warfare in Afghanistan. This is a letter from my friend who is on duty in Kabul. I normally would not include his name but he has offered this letter for publication… Continue Reading
I don’t think so — if it had been, Cheney would have been in more danger. But maybe it’s a sign that the surge isn’t working and the wheels are starting to come off. It’s not good, that’s for sure.… Continue Reading
Is it a relief to see that fuzzy thinking and antiscience are not confined to the United States? No. No, it turns out to be only moderately less infuriating because my tax dollars were not wasted on this boondoggle. (They… Continue Reading
In a few months, a young man is going off to war. As a teenager, he got into the sorts of trouble that middle- and upper-class boys get in to, but he seems to have overcame his earlier troubles Pperhaps… Continue Reading