The world seems always to have been full of petty dictators. If you will think back to your high school history, it was pretty much a parade of monarchist, fascist, socialist, communist, and other-ist dictators. They were everywhere, from ancient Greece to, well, modern Greece and beyond. Generally, those leaders with even a single altruistic quality were quickly gunned down … Continue reading
I made the mistake of venturing out today. So much for the Christmas spirit. All I wanted was a plate of noodles at Zen Zero, the wonderful Asian restaurant downtown. Drunken noodles, to be exact, medium hot with chicken, spicy brown sauce clinging to the wide Asian noodles, red peppers and onions mixed in, poetry on a plate for eight … Continue reading
It’s hard to be a curmudgeon at Christmas. That’s where I have been, you see, is having Christmas. I’ve been happy and upbeat, and spending times with friends and relatives that I like. That is to say, I have not been myself, so I have not been writing this column for a few days. I will admit to having the … Continue reading
The West Virginia Blogger tagged me with a meme that simply requires that I answer some questions about Christmas and me. I can do that. Wrapping or gift bags? We don’t buy many gifts anymore, as a sort of a protest against commercialization. But those that we do buy, we wrap. I love to wrap! Real or artificial Tree? My … Continue reading
There is a scandal brewing right here in Lawrence, Kansas. The Mayor of Lawrence (Sue Hack), and the head of the County Commission (Bob Johnson) have been found to own stock in Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, during a period where they were determining what tax and fee concessions to give that company to locate in Lawrence. This comes on the heels of … Continue reading
It looks like another era is passing this week in Lawrence, and at KU. Hank Booth, a very popular local radio announcer has been off work for a week or so as the Jayhawks men’s basketball announcer at Allen Fieldhouse due to an injury. It looks like Lew Perkins is taking the opportunity to replace him with one of his … Continue reading
Inclusive of my rant day before yesterday against spoiled gangster athletes, I hate it when things get obviously, wackily out of control in society. Compensation falls into that category just now. Yes, I know, it is always a bit skewed towards famous people, but is has gotten well past the point of ridiculousness. It is having an increasingly negative effect … Continue reading
In the news today, I see that Roger Clemons says he is upset about being named in the steroids scandal, Michael Vick says he is not the beast, and Jason Kidd is unhappy about being named in a lawsuit by a model that he allegedly groped. This is not too difficult, boys. Pull up a chair and just pay attention … Continue reading
Yesterday I talked briefly about the recent discovery that the Arctic ice was melting faster than had been thought, and that it was now likely that the ice in the Arctic would be totally gone in summer by the year 2012. That was bad enough, and I took the current administration to task for its unwillingness to be part of … Continue reading
Not long ago, maybe two or three years, there was a feeling that the issues around global warming were not the problem of the current generation. Our generation, and the ones immediately preceding it, had certainly caused the problem through the overuse of fossil fuels: gasoline, coal, natural gas, and so on. Eventually, that was going to cause a lot … Continue reading