We’ll start with the shoot-down of Russian fighter planes supposedly barely over Turkish airspace by NATO member Turkey; the Grey Lady provides a little background, and Zero Hedge has a little more (and a bit more here). Bottom line: Turkey is allied with certain insurgents who are (surprise, surprise) notionally aligned with the Islamic State/ISIS/ISIL against the Assad regime (as is… the United States), and Russia is allied with the Assad regime against all of its opponents. And so, there is a “war of all against all” over there, in which, “our side” can pretend to feign outrage at the...

How to reconcile Republican Presidential Aspirant Donald “The Donald” Trump and his recent call for Muslim Americans to be registered [it sounded better in the original German] and the fact that one of the Donald’s largest business enterprises (at least, in terms of having his name on it), the Trump Taj Mahal, is named after, well, the Taj Mahal, to wit, the jewel of Muslim art in India. [I leave it as a thought experiment as to why the media is so keen on oh-so-seriously reporting the blatherings of mental defectives pronouncements of Republican governors that they will prevent Syrian...

First, we start with the amazing news that Shaker Aamer, last British resident of GTMO, has been released; Andy has a triple play on the subject: (1) his story on Shaker’s release, (2) Shaker’s own statement on this release, and (3) Andy’s friend and former Pink Floyder Roger Waters and his statement on Shaker’s release, Candace is on it as well, and she has an update on the GTMO census, now down to 112. TD’s alma mater defeated Mrs. TD’s alma mater 17-7 at football, for alma mater’s first Ivy League win since 2012 (and its first road win since...

Your talking dog turns… 53. Fifteen years younger than our probable next President. Just saying.

Beloved alma mater’s much maligned football team snapped its 35 month losing streak, with a win over still-winless-this-season Wagner College of Staten Island, with a 26-3 score. It had a legendary 40-something losing streak right after I (and the President) graduated… and… well… there. Fortunately, the League’s losingest program hiring the great Al Bagnoli, holder of nine outright League titles (a record)… may be just what the program needed. Roar Lion Roar. Meanwhile, the rest of the world still pretty much sucks.

I’m a little slow on the uptake (nothing unusual there)… Andy reports that Shaker Aamer, the last British resident detained at GTMO, is being released. He had been cleared for release for the last several years, but… well… see above re: “human decency delayed.” In the end, we as a nation seem to prefer our military having “a presence” in the vast majority of the world’s nations, engaging in wars on terror, drugs, and on nations that refuse to abide by American capitalism and foreign policy, even as the cost of maintaining such a vast military infrastructure is the utter...

Seriously. Check yourself, if you want. I began this blog a week after 9-11 as a bitter crank, approaching middle age. Fourteen years later, I find, of course, that after the major 9-11 inflection point from which we could have sought our best selves and instead have had a fourteen year race to the bottom, I find, of course, that I am more bitter, more middle-aged, and more cranky. And I’m still, btw, one of the happiest people I know. Thank you, Al Gore, for inventing the internets, so I can share the warmth with everyone.

On the Jewish calendar, the day before sundown of the First Day of Rosh Hashanah is effectively new year’s eve. I partied like it was… I don’t know… and eked out a finish (and an official finish by just s few tenths of a second) in the inaugural Suffolk County Marathon today. And now, I will be tired and sore when schmoozing with the mishpacha and davening in schul. The religion is, after all, largely about suffering. Happy new year, everybody (particularly my Jewish readers… if I have any…)

. Honestly, on this, the 14th anniversary of the day that has been used to justify… so much… I’m not really sure I have anything to add (other than, of course, happy 9-11 to all, even the haters and losers; what did we all do before The Donald?) One of the things that 9-11 did spawn, of course, was blogs. This one will celebrate its own 14th birthday in a week or so. Fourteen years… represents over a quarter of my life, but something like 90% or so of my daughter’s… and she (and countless millions of her contemporaries) have...