Ars Gratia Artis – at Half a Million Dollars a Pop

Looks like my misgivings about the Delta variant were, unfortunately, well-founded, and over the last three weeks, my continued preference for working from my home office in Great Falls, Virginia has proved as prudent as I originally suspected it would be. Although actually, since I own my office suite in downtown Washington DC, I have… Continue reading Ars Gratia Artis – at Half a Million Dollars a Pop

A Spectre is Haunting America and Its Name is Stupidity

The global coronavirus pandemic has fully arrived in the United States in general and the Washington DC metropolitan area in particular. Breaking with our usual local traditions regarding foreign visitors, however, we did not throw it a parade. And while its arrival did not completely reduce Washington to a ghost town, the streets of the… Continue reading A Spectre is Haunting America and Its Name is Stupidity

Pence the Possible Patsy for a Plague

Thursday evening after work, I stopped by the Round Robin Bar, as I often do. About halfway through my Macallan 18 on the rocks, Higganbotham slid into the booth next to me and tossed an envelope on the cocktail table. “Count it,” he said. I knew Higganbotham, as most Beltway insiders do, as a notorious… Continue reading Pence the Possible Patsy for a Plague

To Explain Ukraine is Mainly a Big Pain

The biggest single problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. – George Bernard Shaw It was another working Saturday which found me at the Round Robin Bar after my final consultation ended at seven thirty in the evening. There, I saw Farquhar, a DC staffer for the Biden campaign and McLoon,… Continue reading To Explain Ukraine is Mainly a Big Pain

How Long Until Russia Buys Hawaii?

The attendee at my regular consultation with the International Finance and Foreign Exchange Attaché of the Embassy of Denmark on Friday was replaced with a last-minute substitute – Dr. Arnapalaaq Iteq Ikiaqutit, the Cultural, Legal and Political Affairs Deputy at the embassy’s Greenland Section. She was visibly upset as she situated herself on the chair… Continue reading How Long Until Russia Buys Hawaii?