On this Memorial Day weekend, we offer a column first published more than a decade ago.  As we remember: Slowly and sadly, Memorial Day is becoming just "another" holiday, better known for cookouts and retail deals than its intended purpose--honoring our fallen military heroes.  If you doubt this trend, watch TV for a few minutes this weekend.  There are plenty of ads for cars, furniture and clothes, (but unless you're watching Fox News), little is little mention of why Monday is a solemn, special day.   But for anyone who ever ..read more

An Air Force WC-135 Constant Phoenix aircraft, like the one currently deployed to a U.S. base in Great Britian.  The jet's arrival last Friday--coupled with a spike in Iodine 131 levels in Europe--has touched off speculation about a possible Russian nuclear test or reactor mishap (USAF photo)   ***UPDATE/22 Feb/1130EST*** Various military tracking sites report the WC-135 departed RAF Mildenhall in the UK, on an apparent nuclear detection mission over the Barents Sea.  The Constant Phoenix aircraft was accompanied by an RC-135 Rivet Joint SIGINT platform, which mon ..read more

It sounds like something from a second-rate spy novel, or a B-grade gangster film.   But it's not the stuff of fiction; it's the story of family rivalry, money, political assassination and North Korea.  And it happened in Kuala Lumpur just hours ago. Kim Jong-nam, half-brother to DPRK dictator Kim Jong-un, died at a hospital in the Malaysian capital, apparently after being poisoned by a pair of female North Korean operatives.  More from Reuters: Malaysian police official Fadzil Ahmat said the cause of Kim's death was not yet known, and that a post mortem would be carried out ..read more

Amid the hoopla over the Patriots epic Super Bowl comeback and the on-going legal battle over President Trump's executive order on immigration, there was a third story over the weekend, one that deserves much more attention than it's getting. So far, coverage of this developing scandal appears has belonged largely to the Daily Caller, where investigative reporter Luke Rosiak provided a major update on Saturday.  He learned that three Capitol Hill IT staffers--all brothers--have been "relieved from their duties" for allegedly accessing Congressional computer networks without authorization ..read more

despite popular demand, after a two-month sabbatical.  We'll try to be more diligent in posting, while offering other opinions at the rate of 140 characters per message. Don't say you weren't warned.   ..read more

 USAF Major Rudolf Anderson, who died when his U-2 was shot down over Cuba on 27 October 1962.  The event pushed the U.S. and the Soviet Union closer to nuclear war; intelligence information discovered later suggests that Fidel Castro may have played a key role in the incident (USAF photo via Wikipedia) Various pundits and politicians--as they often do--made fools of themselves over the weekend, offering effusive praise for Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who finally assumed room temperature at the age of 90. El Commandante was a hero to leftists around the world ..read more

J.M.W Turner's famous painting of the Battle of Trafalgar (1805).  The Royal Navy's pending loss of anti-ship missiles on surface combatants will force a return to closer-range engagements, with potentially deadly consequences (Wikipedia image)   Just another, sad, reminder that Britannia no longer rules the waves. The Royal Navy--which set the sea power standard for centuries--has announced plans that will further reduce its combat power and leave its ships vulnerable in potential engagements with Russian, Chinese and even Iranian vessels. From the UK Telegraph ..read more

The earth is spinning backwards on its axis.  Aliens have landed.  Donald Trump has been elected the 45th President of the United States. Until about 3 am Wednesday morning, most of the media nobility and political elites would have given you better odds on the first two scenarios.  Mr. Trump, the real estate billionaire and reality TV host was someone who could never be allowed to occupy the Oval Office--especially if it denied the presidency to Hillary Clinton, acclaimed by the same elites to be the "best-qualified candidate of all time."  Never mind that she is (arguabl ..read more

This post is being written late Sunday afternoon, about three hours before the second presidential debate from Washington University in St. Louis.  At this point, we (officially) don't know what questions will be posed to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump by moderators Anderson Cooper of CNN and Martha Raddatz of ABC, along with members of the studio audience.  But you don't need to be a political pundit to discern that many of tonight's queries will focus on Mr. Trump and his contemptible remarks about women, made to Billy Bush (then a co-host of "Access Hollywood") almost 12 years a ..read more

Before he heads out the door, President Obama is pushing a few of his pet initiatives, with little regard for their long-term impact on the nation. Let's begin with global warming, climate change or whatever catch-phrase is now being used to perpetuate that hoax.  As the Washington Times recently reported, Mr. Obama is claiming that rising temperatures (and sea levels) will trigger new waves of massive migration, creating problems far beyond those now being experienced in the Middle East and Europe. Never mind that the "science" behind climate change has been notoriously politicized--an ..read more