Brigid’s Australian family wing pays us a visit

Brigid’s brother Neville, his wife Geri, and their daughter June just finished a lovely five day/four night visit with us. They’d flown in Thursday from England, where they were visiting other relatives, including Brigid’s two sisters and left Monday afternoon. They’ll have a couple of nights in LA and then fly to Brisbane, completing an … Read more

Good editorial in the Wall Street Journal on Republican congressional policy failures

The title of this editorial is The GOP Record: The Roots of Republican Failure in Congress. OpinionJournal – Featured Article Social Security reform was never going to be easy, and Mr. Bush’s war-driven decline in job approval meant he couldn’t move any Democrats. But that still doesn’t excuse such prominent Republicans as Tom Davis (Virginia) … Read more

Brigid’s family arrives for a short visit

Well, not the whole family. Brigid’s brother Neville, his wife Geri, and their daughter June flew in today for a five day stay. They live in Australia and were visiting in England before arriving here. When they leave, they will fly west to Los Angeles for two days and then back to Australia. So they … Read more

Here’s a good post on the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that was just declassified.

UPDATE #2 Thursday – Washington Post sensible editorial: A Good Estimate – washingtonpost.com The larger thrust of the report goes well beyond Iraq or the cacophony of the midterm election campaign. It says "the most powerful weapon in the war on terror" over time will be not military success in Iraq or the capturing and … Read more

Female graduate of West Point dies in Iraq

I’m sure that overwhelmingly, the men and women who have died in Iraq have been outstanding individuals. This certainly seems to be the case with this young woman, who is the first female graduate of the military academy to die in Iraq. West Point Mourns a Font Of Energy, Laid to Rest by War – … Read more