We crowned the Viking portion of the trip with a night time cruise along the Seine. A breathtaking display.    

Château Gaillard is a medieval castle ruin located on a steep hill overlooking  the commune of Les Andelys. Construction began in 1196 under Richard the Lionheart, then King of England and Duke of Normandy. Work was completed in just two years. Château Gaillard had an advanced design, with three enclosures separated by dry moats surrounding a keep. It was also one …

PARIS TO NORMANDY TO PARIS, SEPTEMBER 19-20: LES CHATEAUX GAILLARD AND MALMAISON Read More »

Seeing Omaha Beach was one of the major elements of the trip, and the visit did not disappoint. We began the day in Bayeux, at the Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy. With excellent displays and exhibits, the museum tells the story of the Second World War, beginning with the painful aftermath of the …

PARIS TO NORMANDY TO PARIS, SEPTEMBER 18: OMAHA BEACH AND THE AMERICAN CEMETERY Read More »

To celebrate our 50th anniversary, we took a ten day Viking cruise along the Seine. Like many tourists, we spent our first day visiting Notre Dame cathedral. It’s been called the beating heart of Paris, and why not? It’s quite a place. Ginny and I were delighted that our lengthy Catholic education prepared us well …

PARIS TO NORMANDY TO PARIS, SEPTEMBER 15-16 Read More »

9.30 Tom Nichols in The Atlantic: “Pete Hegseth’s convocation of hundreds of generals and admirals today turned out to be, in the main, a nothingburger. . . . The assembled military leaders likely already knew that Hegseth is unqualified for his job, and they could mostly tune out the sloganeering that Hegseth, a former TV host, …

SEPTEMBER 2025: “IF YOU DON’T LIKE WHAT I’M SAYING, YOU CAN LEAVE THE ROOM” Read More »

This article was published in Air Mail on August 23rd. TWO CHEERS FOR GERRYMANDERING As F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” In coming months, Democrats are going to need …

AUGUST 2025: GERRYMANDERING OUR WAY TO A STRONGER DEMOCRACY Read More »

8.29 By a 7-4 decision, a U.S. appeals court rules that most of Donald Trump‘s tariffs are illegal. 8.29 The Daily Beast: “Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith excoriated Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for suggesting that antidepressants could have caused Wednesday’s  deadly shooting at a church in Minneapolis, where two children died …

AUGUST 2025: “ILLEGAL, UNCONSTITUTIONAL, UN-AMERICAN” Read More »

Tim Hart and I visited Saratoga Performing Arts Center for the 10th Annual Outlaw Festival featuring Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, and Jeff Tweedy and Wilco.  Highlights included “All Along the Watchtower” and a sped-up version of “Desolation Row” from Dylan, “How Time Slips Away” from Nelson, “Jesus’ Son” from Wilco, and “Change the …

AUGUST 2, 2025: OUTLAWS! Read More »

7.31 Atlanta 7.30 Atlanta 7.29 Atlanta. Bought a house. 7.28 Atlanta 7.28 Ryne Sandberg dies at 65. 7.27 Jamelle Bouie in the Times: “One of the things that drives me a little crazy is whenever people talk about the 2020 protests and they say, well, the 2020 protests contributed to Trump, blah, blah, blah, wokeness, …

JULY 2025: “THIS ISN’T, LIKE, EVIDENCE. THIS IS, LIKE, IRREFUTABLE PROOF.” Read More »

JUNE 21 There is the thicket, and there is the path. For months, Democrats have been wandering in a thicket of words. Kathy Hochul just showed us the path. Hochul has been the governor of New York since 2021. A small-ish person with a husky voice, she brings a refreshing unpretentiousness to her job. She …

AIR MAIL, JUNE 21, 2025: “IT’S BULLSHIT” Read More »