Heard near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery with a British Accent: “Well, he has to pee doesn’t he?”   Headline of the week From the Daily Mail: Silvio Berlusconi DENIES calling Angela Merkel a lard-ass – but admits he DID jump out at her and go ‘cuckoo’ (and says […]

To the Moon and Back This week I toured with a group from, let’s just say, Andrew Jackson territory. Their school sent two buses and as they often are, they were divided by gender with me winding up with 36 eighth grade boys. Was this divine retribution? Coin Toss At the very first stop, the […]

Just in Case You Need It I finished up the week working with a group of eighth-graders from Lamar Middle School, a touch of irony or humor that was lost on both them and me. It was a superb day at Mount Vernon and down at Pioneer Farm it was sheep shearing time, the old […]

Make Way for the Elephant Robert Emmett, Irish patriot, was hanged, drawn and quartered in Dublin, Ireland, convicted of leading a failed rebellion for Irish freedom in 1803. He was 25 years old. Emmett was a protestant from a wealthy family, hardly the type to commit “high treason.” But he identified strongly with Catholics in […]

Going for the Uber Experience Some readers will know that I have previously reflected on the always bizarre and often cruel manner displayed by many United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) staff towards visitors. Examples include forcing fifth graders to needlessly stand outside in a howling wind and frigid weather to barking insults(calling them cry […]

  "Hounded" by False Rumors Kim Jong Un, the repressive and outfit deprived leader of North Korea apparently DID NOT set a pack of starving dogs on his uncle as previously reported here. This unfortunate mis-reporting underscores how even the most bizarre and dictatorial leaders can be harshly and unfairly judged.  We stand chastened. The […]

  Just Keep It. I wrote the other day about my burglary. The police were called and the Crime Scene Technician did a great including providing a series of helpful tips, like: you will continue to realize missing items. Truer words… I realized they had absconded with my worn and worthless messenger bag that was […]

  A “Butch” Too Far Just when you thought it was safe to bite into that coconut macaroon, out pops radio evangelist Kevin Swanson. Swanson blames it on the Girl Scouts and “it” is big: �”lesbianism”, �abortion and perhaps worst of all, financial skills. We would be hard-pressed to say which is worse. And, Swanson […]

  Groundbreaking Report From Saudis Now we know. Women should not be driving and a Saudi cleric, one�Sheikh Saleh bin Saad al-Lohaidan tells us why: �it’s the pelvic tilt, stupid. The sheikh reports that the pelvis is forced upward when behind the wheel thus causing children to be born with all manner of medical problems. […]

  Keeping it Real Time was when the notice of a passing was an opportunity to laud achievements, celebrate family and otherwise ignore the deceased’s infuriating shortcomings, at least in writing.� Acknowledgment of the departed�s pain-in-the-assness was limited to oblique comments where the assembled mourners would nod and titter nervously at an honest observation. Not […]