Rants, musings, and other general purpose blog entries reflecting the thoughts du jour.
In a few hours in downtown Manhattan, our country will see the arrest, booking, and arraignment of former President Trump on criminal charges. No matter what happens this afternoon, this will be the first time that an ex-President has had to answer to criminal charges laid against them. It's not the first time that charges of misbehaviour in office have been contemplated for those who have served as President. There have been several impeachments and…
For over a year now, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Disney Company have been locked in an incredibly bitter and nasty public fight that is rather exceptional for those of us who have watched and experienced how Disney operates in Central Florida for decades. In a nutshell, Disney was granted extraordinary powers to essentially be a government in all but name when the Reedy Creek Improvement District was created in 1967. At the time,…
One of the leading voices of the "thoughts and prayers" squad in the aftermath of the school shooting in Nashville is none other than Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN 5) who happens to be the incumbent representative of the district that contains the school. Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words but I'm thinking this one is definitely worth the $1,000 the National Rifle Association put into his campaign coffers in the 2022…
Early this morning, the phone chirped out an alert that there was an active shooter situation in downtown Raleigh and that Ligon Middle School had been placed under a code yellow lockdown with the scene of the shooting literally being a couple of blocks away. In fact, I know that area very well as that is where I usually make a right turn to take the back way to the fields where Katie's lacrosse team…
It certainly did to me when my stepfather suggested we sit down and watch the movie adaptation of "Fiddler on the Roof" featuring legendary actor Chaim Topol playing the lead role of Tevye. The movie spanned *TWO* VHS tapes which should give you an idea of how long ago this conversation was and the state of video technology at the time! Oy vey! I'll confess that I had no idea what the movie was about…
OK, now that I've gotten the kind of heavy stuff out of the way...now we can go with the story I was originally planning on writing this evening. If we set the Wayback Machine for a little over two weeks ago, you would have found me in a classroom for the first time in about thirty years learning everything about becoming a Notary Public for the Old North State and then sitting one of the…
I had hoped to write of much happier news after Katie's and Enloe's first lacrosse game of the season but this afternoon's bit of excitement really won't wait. Today was Unify which is a special club at Enloe which pairs kids with special needs with mentors for fun activities geared for them. It could be some sort of sport or crafting activity and it's a nice way for Alex and Katie to spend an extra…
Another week, yet another act of verbal self-immolation that is absolutely and breathtakingly lacking in even a modicum of self-awareness of the blatant racism being spewed. This time, "Dilbert" creator Scott Adams finds himself square in the cross-hairs of outrage with hundreds of newspapers that syndicated/reprinted the strips dropping "Dilbert" from their funny pages. Truth be told, it was hard not to be shocked that there apparently are still hundreds of newspapers in circulation in…
Every now and then, I find myself wandering over to "The Globe and Mail" website for a bit of news from the Great White North. It seems so ironic mourning the passing of Gordon Pinsent who delightfully played Constable Benton Fraser's deceased father Robert on the series "Due South". "Due South" had the distinction of being the first Canadian-produced show to have a prime-time broadcast slot on a major American television network (CBS). It was…
For the first time in over 30 years, I found myself in a college classroom this morning to take the NC Secretary of State’s required course to become an official North Cackalacky Notary Public. The course and the examination one has to sit afterward has a reputation for being one of if not the most stringent and toughest in the nation requiring 80% as a passing score prior to being able to make application. As…
For the last few days, a Chinese balloon the size of three buses with a instrument package with solar panels dangling below it has been drifting over the continental United States and has made it's way from Montana to Missouri and is now hovering over western North Carolina. There seems to be a lot of anxiety surrounding this balloon that Beijing initially denied existed at all and then finally has admitted was their balloon but…
I know it's going to seem somewhat shocking that as much time as I've spent behind the camera lens through the years, I have rarely had any desire to be in front of one. In fact, were it not for the trove of pictures and slides I unearthed from my father's garage, there really wouldn't be all that many pictures of me in my younger days compared to how many I've taken of the kids…
(This is a variation on a comment I'd made on a YouTube video by "The Hockey Guy" where he referenced the Ivan Provorov controversy. Mr Speaker, I'd like unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks... :) ) "Hockey is for Everyone is the umbrella initiative under which the League encourages clubs to celebrate the diversity that exists in their respective markets, and to work to achieve more welcoming and inclusive environments for all fans.…
The following letter to my father was written several months ago whilst I was visiting with him at Arlington National Cemetery on a gorgeous August morning. There's something about that spot about half way down Section 76 that is peaceful and inspiring as I was reflecting on the past few days spent on walkabout in Washington DC and about to head toward the Outer Banks to collect the kids, Mistletoe, and likely a fair heap…
Are you flipping kidding me? I'm still trying to wrap my head round more classified documents being found where they ought not to be and in the possession of people who clearly should have known better! Apparently these documents were found in an office used by President Biden prior to his election when he was a member of a Washington think tank (now that's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one and having grown up…
That motto emblazoned proudly across the Brazilian national flag means "order and progress" but the scenes from Brasilia were anything but as supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro laid siege to the Congress building, the Presidential Palace, and the Supreme Court and wreaked havoc destroying everything they could get their hands on. Among other conspiracy theories, these vandals claimed that widespread election fraud was why Bolsonaro lost to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in…
Just as I'm about to extricate myself from the recliner and do the washing up of the popcorn bowl (well, if the Republicans are going to accuse people of eating the popcorn as they watch the show... ;) ) before heading upstairs for an exceptionally early bedtime for me, I can hear a commotion coming from the TV that's still tuned to C-SPAN. The motion to adjourn has been proceeding quickly to an expected 218-216…
I wish I could tell you the 13th vote for Speaker was meaningful but....no. Not surprisingly, the motion to adjourn until 2200 was met with very little resistance and the members are off to the meetings to try to find the way forward to finally elect Representative Kevin McCarthy to the Speaker's chair or give him a nice length of rope that he can give himself the Phil Connors way out of his purgatory. It…
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends... We're so glad you could attend, come inside come inside! Karn Evil 9 - 1st Impression, Emerson Lake & Palmer If this keeps up, the next featured image will be from Groundhog Day...I promise! :) Welcome to the show that currently is never ending which is now into Day Four of crushing Representative Kevin McCarthy's soul if not will to continue oxygenating his blood. The…
Day Three of the ongoing evisceration of Representative Kevin McCarthy's candidacy to become Speaker of the House of Representative (and for my money the evisceration of his will to live!) is gavelled into session by the reigning Clerk of the House of Representatives, Cheryl Johnson. The Clerk is not a member of the House as a representative but oversees all the administrative tasks that allow the House to do it's day to day business. Reading…
Welcome to Day Two of Operation Chaos, otherwise known as the ongoing humiliation of Rep Kevin McCarthy who is trying desperately to become Speaker of the House of the Representatives in spite of concerted opposition to his nomination by 20 hardline Republican members-elect. Do keep in mind that until a Speaker is elected, the House is effectively barred from conducting any other meaningful business such as actually swearing in newly elected members and organising the…
For the first time in 100 years, the heir presumptive to the throne at the top of the dais on the floor of the House of Representatives gets to suffer the abject humiliation of not being elected Speaker of the House on the first vote. Nor was he selected on the second or third ballot where he actually lost another vote to Jim Jordan, Ohio's tribute to just how much they miss having the always…
It seems like it was just yesterday that I was penning the annual "Urbi et Orbi" post welcoming 2022 amongst us and here we are giving 2022 a solid kick in the kiester in favour of a hopefully happy 2023. Certainly this year had more than it's fair share of upheaval, mayhem, and just downright awfulness. We haven't forgotten the ongoing war in Ukraine where the Ukrainians have bravely resisted the Russian invasion and indeed…
Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy. Mohandas K Gandhi Today has certainly been quite the tempest round here with 45 knot winds round daybreak and a steady 30 knots through the day before dying down toward the evening to make the chilly temperatures even more unpleasant. These were the…
This weekend brought another round of sorrow to the Raleigh area, this time during the 2022 Raleigh Christmas Parade. One of the trucks pulling a float apparently suffered brake failure whilst descending a slight incline and struck a young girl who was dancing with her studio in the street in front of the truck. She was taken to hospital but unfortunately did not survive her injuries. I can't even imagine how gutted her family and…
