The lunatic is in the hall The lunatics are in my hall The paper holds their folded faces to the floor And every day the paperboy brings more -- Pink Floyd, "Brain Damage", 1973 The lunatic of the day is an as-yet unnamed individual in West Texas who, upon being pulled over on Saturday afternoon … Continue reading And every day the paperboy brings more →

Is it absolutely necessary for national political parties to sanction so-called presidential debates? Do they have to back candidates in House and Senate primaries? The 2016 cycle was undoubtedly a mess, with primaries leading to the nominations of two highly polarizing candidates and ending with the election of a deeply unpopular president. For 2020 the … Continue reading There must be a better way →

I'm a resident in a medium-sized city in the great state of Iowa, home of the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses. As such, I've had a lot of opportunities to see, hear, and meet presidential candidates. Since I'm kind of a political junkie and there are literally dozens of semi- to extremely recognizable candidates running around Iowa, … Continue reading Joe Biden loses it →

I used to love fireworks. When I was a kid, especially, I loved watching them on the 4th of July or sometimes other occasions like New Years Eve. I loved setting them off -- smoke bombs, snakes, firecrackers and bottle rockets were personal favorites. I'm lucky to have all my fingers (no kidding) and fortunate … Continue reading Next 4th of July, leave the guns at home →

“[A]s we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know.” — Donald Rumsfeld, February 2002 This past week … Continue reading What Joe Biden doesn’t get and possibly never will →

When I decided to rejoin Facebook after an extended absence, I had a couple general objectives. The first was to reconnect with old friends and family online, and by extension, the broader world. Another goal was to be a good citizen of the digital world -- to model better behavior. So, I set about to … Continue reading Intentional Facebooking →

"You have to understand that the public has a very short memory. But corporations, they never forget." -- Quiz Show, 1994 "The Internet's not written in pencil, Mark, it's written in ink..." -- The Social Network, 2010 My third attempt to reestablish a Facebook account in my own name appears to be a success. THIRD … Continue reading Facebook is forever →

A classic like 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory works on many levels. When I was a kid, I thought I was too grown up for such stuff. In truth I was not grown up enough. My recent efforts to reestablish a Facebook account in my real name have been met with suspicion and … Continue reading Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook Factory →

After nearly fourteen months away and tons of soul searching, I decided last week to end my self-imposed Facebook exile. Just one problem: they don't seem to want me back. Don't ask me why, because I truly don't know. And don't ask them why, because there's no one to ask. In a nutshell, I set … Continue reading No Facebook for you →