Atlanta, GA May 29, 2023 “Maybe it’s time for a townhouse.” As another excavator created an expanding pit in our front yard, my wife’s comment was making a lot of sense. A few years ago, we dug up the front of the house to regrade, place new pipes, and install French drains to stop a […]
Barnsley Gardens, GA May 19, 2023 Last week we contemplated fear. Today we lighten the mood, and consider contentment. What makes us happy? The question has animated philosophy since systemic thought sprouted on Aegean shores. For centuries since, the hunt for happiness has followed countless trails of reflective contemplation and empirical inquisition. Today, under a cool […]
Atlanta, GA May 11, 2023 The US government almost always has its finger on the pulse. It’s hard not to when its hands are constantly around the country’s throat. But for a moment at least, it’s relaxed its grip. This morning its Department of “Health” and “Human Services” lifted the “state of emergency” that even […]
Atlanta, GA April 9, 2023 It’s said that when a man enters a crowd, he exits civilization. A man in a mob doesn’t think for himself; the mob thinks for him. For evidence, we summon recent reckless reactions to viruses, riots, wars, and the weather. As new “crises” roll out like beer bottles from an […]
April 3, 2023 Atlanta, GA What New Year’s Eve is to drinking, April Fools Day is to comedy. Each reveals why some activities are best left to the professionals. Fortunately, this April Fools Day fell on a weekend, when juvenile jokesters are easier to avoid. For the most part, we evaded the predictable parade of […]
Atlanta, GA March 15, 2023 We recently republished our assessments of the best (here, here, here, and here) and worst (here, here, here, here, and here) US presidents. It’s almost as if Jimmy Carter waited for us to finish the lists to see if he was on them. He wasn’t. Safely omitted, he entered hospice… […]
Atlanta, GA February 15, 2023 More than a year passed before the US government acknowledged its role in the massacre at Mỹ Lai. A similar interlude separated the crimes at Abu Ghraib from the initial reporting that made them public. Seymour Hersh revealed each outrage, both of which the government denied or downplayed. But Hersh exposed […]
Atlanta, GA January 31, 2023 We were at a gala last weekend where one of the speakers represented a major “healthcare” organization. His remarks reminded me how our conception of medical service has shifted dramatically since I was a kid. This executive promoted “curated” care tailored to each individual, going so far as to etymologize […]
Orlando, FL January 22, 2023 “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” – Edmund Burke A quarter century ago, Harry Browne wrote a wonderful book about how to attain liberty in an ocean of hostility. Since the publication of How […]
Atlanta, GA January 14, 2023 An evil man will burn his own country to the ground to rule over the ashes. ~Sun Tzu First they came for high-flow toilets, and I did not speak out – because my current commode flushed fine. Then they came for high-pressure shower heads, and I did not speak out […]