Editor’s Note: Arrias takes on something that is rattling around in the background. His assessment suggests we will have to start using a word I had never before encountered in real life. “Quadrillion.” Alert reader may want to get used to it. – Vic Roll Them Bones So, we’re about to add $1.9 trillion dollars […]

Editor’s Note: A twin-spin this morning. Arrias is insightful as usual as we all grapple with this astonishing and changing world. – Vic Watch some TV for just a few minutes and you’ll be bombarded by a broad assortment of news and entertainment, police shows and spy shows and political dramas. They all share certain […]

Editor’s Note: It is Martin Luther King Day. He is one of my heroes from the old days, but his beliefs- Christianity and Non-Violence- seem to have lost some of their old energy. There are other things in motion now. Arrias and I have been thinking about numbers lately, since there appears to be actual […]

Editor’s Note: I was reading the various strings of information this morning with interest. We have moved on from “Insurrection” to something else. In defense of truth, the current President has been banned from Twitter. Others have been expelled, still others have “quit” a social media service on which I once had an account. Still […]

Editor’s Note: There is some fascinating activity in progress here in The Swamp. I am alternating glimpses of the alleged news with substantive input from heartwarming movies on the Hallmark Channel. Arrias has some thoughts that seem appropriate to contemplate on a week like this. – Vic The Polish Underground and Silicon Valley Jan Karski […]

Editor’s Note: OK- it is not Boxing Day, missed that one in blissful sloth in the Great room, fire blazing in the hearth, warm and jolly thoughts dissipating gently. Now, regrettably, it is time to start thinking again. Much as we hate it. Arrias contributes a useful and apolitical guide to why planning is good. […]

21 December 2020 Editor’s Note: Today marks the Solstice, the shortest day of the year. Or, as Old Jim at Willow would bellow: “It’s the same length as every other day. It just has a few seconds less sunlight than yesterday!” Then he would slam down the long-neck Budweiser with a declarative thud on the […]

Editor’s Note: This is the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was mentioned each year when I was growing up, and one of the reasons my sons were born there as Kama’ainas. That is the Hawaiian term for “child of the land.” The place we worked was on Ford Island, then reachable only […]

Here’s a quick quiz: What happened on June 21st, 1966? It’s a bit esoteric, and I suspect it isn’t even taught anywhere any more, but it was an important date, for it was the date that French President Charles de Gaulle sent a brief note to President Johnson that contains this simple line: France is […]

Editor’s Note: There is a swirl in the air, not uncommon at the start of the holiday season, but this one is different. It is different by design. Governors seem to be competing for Emmy awards. It is a curious thing. Arrias takes a look this morning at how we are dealing with the essence […]