All Purls. No Swine.
Well, no, actually, it isn't. But the following post, which was first published quite a few years ago on Ricochet, seems germane again, given the situation in the city of my birth, which would be Birmingham, (historically--at least in part) Warwickshire, The United Kingdom. Lord. There hasn't been a "bin" (garbage) collection in Britain's second… Continue reading It’s National “Hug A Rat Catcher Day!”
She was a star in the Republican party, beginning with her speech (while she was the Mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah) at the 2012 Republican National Convention. That year, she lost her first bid for Congress, by fewer than 1000 votes. She tried again, and was elected, two years later, and then again two years… Continue reading Grace and Love: Rest in Peace
Crimenutely. The date is almost upon us. Come tomorrow, March 21, 2025, Disney's latest iteration of Snow White hits US theaters. I've done my best, during what must be one of the most drawn-out, screwed-up, infelicitous run ups to a premiere in movie history, to keep my dear readers up to speed with developments over… Continue reading Sometimes It’s Not Real, and It’s Not Even True: Disney’s Latest Snow White Staggers To the Finish Line
Well, I don’t think it’s quite that dire, but I did get a good chuckle out of a Fox News article today: Musk uncovers limestone mine used for manually processing federal workers’ retirement papers. Musk says the retirement process at the facility is done by hand, limits the number of federal employees who can retire to 10,000… Continue reading “DOGE is Coming!” The Eye of Elon Swivels to the Mines of Moria
The Telegraph headline, on a UK immigration story: Albanian criminal’s deportation halted over son’s distaste for chicken nuggets. Ahh–Yep. Evidence about child’s picky eating helps convince immigration tribunal that being forced to leave UK would be unduly harsh. I hope Tom Homan is preparing himself for this sort of lunacy, on this side of The… Continue reading Calling US AID! Why Have You Not Installed a McDonalds in Tirana? For the Children?
Yeah. Ok, Bill Clinton. I remember your televised remarks, twenty-seven years ago today, the ones you ended with, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky." I guess the dress, and the cigar, and maybe even the young woman, might choose to differ. Although, perhaps, it all depends on what the definition… Continue reading Quote of the Day: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman….”
I don't need to get into Matt Gaetz or Pete Hegseth territory here. Let's just takes Trump's nominees for FDA Commissioner, CDC Director, and Surgeon General. Let's start with one article: What to know about Trump's picks for CDC, FDA and surgeon general. It's from NPR. Taxpayer-funded broadcasting. Here's another, what PBS has to say… Continue reading Wilful and Politically-Biased Ignorance: The Mainstream Media’s Reportage on Trump’s Picks
The Telegraph is full of stories today about yesterday’s resignation of the Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the latest in a long line of senior clergy of one or another Christian denomination who have been brought to account for covering up horrific crimes committed by churchmen, in this case, the jaw-dropping decades of… Continue reading The Downfall of an Archbishop and the Rise of a Soldier
‘For,’ said he, ‘as flourishing a Condition as we may appear to be in to Foreigners, we labour under two mighty Evils: a violent Faction at home, and the Danger of an Invasion, by a most potent Enemy, from abroad. As to the first, you are to understand, that for about seventy Moons past there have been two struggling Parties… Continue reading Swift and Sure. The more things change, the more they stay the same: Jonathan Swift, RIP
...Pearls before swine." Wealthy socialite, well-known conservative, staunch anti-Communist, former U.S. Ambassador, playwright, politician and all-round doyenne (a word much underused these days) of all things mid-twentieth century and American, Clare Boothe Luce died thirty-seven years ago today, on October 9, 1987. She was eighty-four years old. Her extraordinary life, which began under the stigma… Continue reading Quote of the Day: “Age before beauty…