Washington Gets Them Federal Shutdown Blues

Five days into the US federal government shutdown, the one striking effect that sticks in my mind is how extraordinarily easy it has been to drive downtown.  With the vast majority of federal workers – who, truth be told, are among the worst drivers anywhere – stuck at home with their families (who, truth be… Continue reading Washington Gets Them Federal Shutdown Blues

Tea Party Master Debaters Vow to Beat Boehner – Later

When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles and the bottle’s on a poodle and the poodle’s eating noodles, they call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle. – Representative Lois Frankel, D-Florida,The Congressional Record, Saturday, September 28, 2013 Ladies and gentlemen, you can’t make this stuff up. … Continue reading Tea Party Master Debaters Vow to Beat Boehner – Later

Police Chief Mark Kessler – Unsafe At Any Caliber

The City Zen restaurant is located in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, on Maryland Avenue here in Washington.  This means, of course, that the hotel guests come there to dine, and so it was that last night, as Cerise and I were enjoying our desserts of raspberry pavolova and tarte tatin, respectively, prior to departing for an… Continue reading Police Chief Mark Kessler – Unsafe At Any Caliber

Former DNC CEO too Pathetically Naive to be Guilty

Today, Cerise and I attended a memorial service for the great-grandmother of Cerise’s graduate school thesis advisor, with whom she afterward became a close friend.  Consequently, being almost like family, Cerise merited an invitation to great granny’s farewell, and I, being Cerise’s Significant Other, could not refuse to accompany Cerise to the ceremony.  The occasion itself being a remembrance… Continue reading Former DNC CEO too Pathetically Naive to be Guilty

The Internet Gets Pwned by NSA

Syria had everyone who is anyone in Washington – and their assistants – which includes me and Gretchen, of course, inside working today.  That’s a real shame because the weather was absolutely gorgeous outdoors and all I could do was look through the picture window at it as the sun shined down through a seventy-five… Continue reading The Internet Gets Pwned by NSA