Small wonder that the survivalists are putting aside rice, beans, and instant water (just add water) against the coming cataclysm. The evangelicals are looking for signs of the apocalypse. From every mountaintop some self-proclaimed prophet is shouting the doomsday lyrics. The end is coming! From the right and left come the clarion call of doom. I ...

Where did the American soul go? Our leaders, great and small, local and national, and I use that term leader with great despair, are exemplifying all of the worst characteristics of third-world despots. What happened to civility? I've heard members of the Legislative branch threaten and insult members of the Judiciary. Multiple members of the Execu...

I think I may have finally defined our governmental process. We have become the mob in a flashback to ancient Rome; Patricians versus plebeians. It is class warfare at its bloodiest. For centuries, men of worth (money-wise, at least) would gather in obscure places around a wooden ring to fight aggressive roosters. They called it the 'sport' of cock...

"Make America Great Again!" What a slogan. Supposedly, it says it all. I'm just not sure what it says. But it's not the first campaign slogan by any means. Slogans to promote presidential candidates go back to, at least, 1840 and the campaign of William Henry Harrison; "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." Some other memorable slogans endure, such as: 54:40 ...

By its own words, the Constitution is able to defend itself, needing only the strength of the population to uphold it. In a recent court ruling in New Mexico, a county commissioner was removed from his elected office as 'disqualified' to hold any office. The county official had been found guilty of participating in the January 6th insurrection. Spe...

Armed Forces Recipe Service card number L 030 is for Creamed Ground Beef, good old SOS. Back in the day, this was the preferred something-on-toast on my ships, both when I was enlisted and when I held a commission and was responsible for feeding the crew. It is, quite simply, a cream gravy made from a flour-shortening roux, milk, Worcestershire sau...

It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis (1935) As sometimes happens, my attention was drawn to this novel while reading an off-the-wall other book, a pre-WWII mystery that has nothing to do with the story I'm bringing you. Sometimes, fate just intervenes.. In brief, the story is one of a fascist take-over of the United States, in 1935, through ...

Let me set the stage. I am a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Male Heterosexual Retiree Navy Veteran who joined the Republican party during the tenure of Richard Nixon and resigned in disgust in 2021. That gives me a certain imprimatur to speak about the aforementioned Republican Party. As I observe the ultra-conservative political servants of the evan...

Look beyond the hype, the talking heads, and social media. See the choice facing our republic and our future. Will we choose to be governed, as we have been for 246 years, or will we succumb to the growing angry buzz and choose to be ruled? Govern or rule? They are often listed as synonyms. Yet, in the world facing us, they are nowhere near synonym...

In part 1 of this BLOG, I proposed that a simple citizenship test be a requirement to hold any Federal office that might impact the citizenry of this country in general. That means that Representatives, Senators, Justices, and both the President and Vice President would take this test. I propose that it be part of the process required to become a c...

Let's consider a great misstep in the makeup of our governing body, as defined by the Constitution of the United States. A Representative (e.g., member of the House of Representatives) shall be at least 25 years old, a U.S. Citizen for at least seven years, and a resident of the state which he/she represents. A Senator shall be at least 30 years ol...

I'm resurrecting my Blog after a two-year break. I'm truly concerned about the state and direction of our country and have as much right to emote about it as the uneducated boobs, career politicians, and media ego-hogs that fill the airwaves and media. Agree with me or not. Read me or not. Share my words or not. You have all those rights as America...

It's simple on the surface. The difference between the placement of two phrases in a sentence exemplifies the change I see in the personality of our nation over the span of sixty years: one quarter of the time the United States has existed as a republican democracy. Can you tell the difference? "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what yo...

The year 2020 is one for the books. The problem comes when you try to figure out where to shelve it in the library. Does it classify as a political thriller, horror, or science fiction? I don't quite know how to characterize it. I can demonize it. I can memorialize it. I just can't figure it out. It seems to be two-faced. In ancient Rome, the god J...

The great American intransigence on display these days will cost a million lives if we ALL don't do what's right. The selfless spirit of community that supported 13 million uniformed service members in WWII (The Big One) is missing. "Hell No. You can't make me ration sugar. You can't tell me I can't buy more gas. I won't turn out the lights at my A...

Today, I am of two minds about my country. I am a veteran, a retired Navy officer. I, and my family, gave up many of the rich years of our lives while I labored to guarantee the freedoms that we all celebrate today. That gives me a certain latitude to express myself; a latitude which I share with all my brothers and sisters in arms, current and pas...

I'd like to take you to Floyd's Barbershop in Mayberry. Oh, did I forget to mention that it's the first week he's been open since NC closed all the barbershops? So, Andy walks in, needing a haircut badly.  "Andy. You need a mask!"  Andy looked at his friend who was wearing a homemade mask with barber poles on it. He sported tan colored la...

Good morning. I can't be the only person seeing this. In fact, I know I'm not. But, so far, voices are few, weak and far between. I've watched news footage of farmers plowing unharvested crops under because demand is down. Demand is not down ... it's just shifted. I've watched news footage of tanker trucks dumping thousands of gallons of fresh milk...

A feel good piece on the Today show should demonstrate, in an indisputable way, human impact on the environment. The lack of human activity, factories shut down, aircraft grounded, national park (not just ours) closed and cars parked, has given Nature the opportunity take a deep breath of her own clean air. The air in Wuhan china is 33.7% cleaner t...

 It doesn't much matter, the outcome of the pandemic. The damage to our way of life will be irreversible, regardless. We have all stepped to the other wide of Plato's bonfire and now have new truths. Perhaps we've discovered what really IS important to us, individually and in groups. Did it hurt to stand and talk to your mother with a glass do...