May 26 2023
Commentators have two counterpoised problems: “There’s nothing to write about!” “There’s way too much to write about!” I’m in the throes of Problem #2 at the moment. So here goes nothing…or everything, depending on your perspective. *** Banks usually don’t have a great deal of cash on hand. A branch VP will …
May 19 2023
By the time Friday gets here, I’m usually exhausted. Today is such a Friday. Atop that, I’m sort of in mourning. Holly, our beloved hot tub these past fifteen years, is scheduled to be cut up and hauled away this morning. So have a few links, with brief comments, and enjoy your weekend: 1. …
May 06 2023
Nothing makes me wearier than shouting into a gale, yet I do it here virtually every day. The exhaustion arises, not from the physical effort it requires, but from the sense of futility it involves. Still, someone has to do it – few are brave enough to say certain things, these days – and …
Apr 15 2023
It promises to be a busy day – this home ownership scam can really get to you in the spring – so have a few scattered bits for now. *** 1. The FBI Doesn’t Like Us. I don’t mean “us” in the widest sense this morning. Rather, I’m thinking of the special attention …
Jan 02 2023
Sometimes the news comes bite-sized. *** 1. Federalism and Freedom. John Hinderaker provides a glimmer of hope: Currently, we have at least two large states, Texas and Florida, that enjoy strong, effective leadership, while our national government flounders. States like Texas and Florida are plenty big enough to go it on their …
Dec 19 2022
Yes, another of the dreaded “Assorted” columns. Have mercy, Gentle Reader. This is one of my mechanisms for “flushing the static.” Besides, sometimes there are connections to be found among the bits of Web-flotsam. Give it a spin on your mental merry-go-round and see where it gets off. *** 1. “You are about to …
Dec 06 2022
I’m in a strange place this morning, for miscellaneous reasons some of which might become evident as you proceed, Gentle Reader. I don’t have a coherent subject in mind just now, as is usually the case when I light off on a piece for Liberty’s Torch. All the same, I feel the usual (for …
Dec 03 2022
And for more reasons than one. 1. The Twitter News. Elon Musk has made good on his promise. I hardly need tell my intelligent, observant, highly skeptical, exceedingly handsome Gentle Readers what I mean by that. Despite the flood of revelations he’s provided through journalist Matt Taibbi, there remains enough ambiguity for any …
Nov 23 2022
Yes, Gentle Reader: the time of marketing and promotions is upon us once again. And as I’m fairly sure that you, like me, have had your fill of excessively clever electronic gadgets and ridiculous use-it-once kitchen appliances, you might find these promotions to be more to your taste. 1. Cheap Ammo! My friend …
Nov 07 2022
There’s too much to say, and not enough pixels in which to say it. But the Curmudgeon Emeritus to the World Wide Web has never yet quailed before a challenge. He’s not about to end his streak today. *** 1. “Rooting for Laundry.” First, a little Jerry Seinfeld: As a (lapsed) baseball …
Sep 23 2022
It’s important to take a break now and then from obsessive news-reading. Keeping up with the news does provide fodder for a lot of opinion-editorials, but it can also turn one into a Curmudgeon Emeritus. I’m here to tell you. *** Sometimes an act of charity – even simple cordiality toward a lonely …
Sep 21 2022
I have a long list of chores to discharge, and I was planning to compile an “assorted” column anyway, so here are the links. If you’re a Gentle Reader of long standing, you hardly need me to comment on these things. They more or less comment on themselves: Bombshell Revelations from the “Special Master” …
Sep 07 2022
1. Conversations. Let’s start with something light: FWP: How on earth did the word “lumber” pick up the secondary meaning of “to move slowly and clumsily?” CSO: What makes you so sure that wasn’t the original meaning? FWP: Well…all right, then how on Earth did the word “lumber” pick up the secondary meaning of …
Aug 27 2022
The “FUT COL” folder is full again. Lately it fills faster than I can empty it, which results in some perfectly worthy material going un-commented-on. But I refuse to make every piece a grab-bag. So today, I’ll simply present a few thought-provoking graphics. *** Our first graphic is from Kenny “Wirecutter” Lane. It …
Aug 24 2022
Apologies, Gentle Reader. It’s a grab-bag day. If I delay clearing my “Future Columns” folder any longer, it might just give birth. *** “Church” and “radical” don’t go together…but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen: Pope Francis’ lead-up to the Synod on Synodality is entering the “continental” phase. And this moment raises …
Aug 17 2022
That line is from a recent novel by K. M. Breakey. The novel itself is undistinguished, essentially wish-fulfillment fiction, but that line is a perfect summary of the interval from November 7, 2020 to the present day. Indeed, nothing else could capture the grim arrogance of the Usurpers who have stolen this country from …
Jul 18 2022
Yes, it was that kind of weekend. The kind that makes the national and international news seem chuckleworthy. But that won’t stop me. (When has it ever?) *** I found this brief but pungent piece courtesy of Gerard van der Leun: Ever since Roe was overturned I’ve really started to notice how…I …
Jul 04 2022
Among the words of which I’m particularly fond, lagniappe holds a special place. There are several reasons, among them the difficulty of pronouncing it properly and the puzzled grimaces most people make when they hear it. It means “a little extra,” usually a small benefit beyond what one had expected. I first encountered …
Jun 18 2022
Too much to write about, that is. *** The recent reports of violent assaults on crisis pregnancy centers, and the announcement that more are coming, have had me worried. It was heartening to learn that the operators of such centers are staunch in the face of such threats: I began my conversation …
Jun 12 2022
Quite a lot of people hate these pieces. Happily, not too many are among my Gentle Readers. But as I’ve said before, I write from what’s on my mind at the moment. *** I spend a fair fraction of my day actively straining to listen. That statement tends to provoke a lot …
