Occupation of Independence

 It's time to admit that it is harder to be an armchair general or armchair geopolitical analyst than I used to think.  Our current president makes that so.  And to some extent, Putin is to blame. So what is a retiree, with too much time on his hands, supposed to do?  How about being an armchair media critic, especially when you live in a time when a new medium is developing, as You Tube is. I have tolerated too many talking heads who speak half-English.  Even Brits with non-rhotic English have become tiresome -- or should I say ti-uh-some? Some guys flap their hands around on You Tube while over-hyping everything, like a salesman.  And there are female talking heads who expose too much skin and wear too much makeup.  Shameless! There are several talking heads that I have a high opinion of.  But the minute they show up on screen with an entire wall of bookshelves in the background and they talk like a professor, I should turn them off.  Do ...

 It seems like Microsoft-Hate is in a growth phase these days.  You would have to know a lot about operating systems to sum it all up, fairly.  Hating Microsoft appeals to some of us on an emotional level, especially for people who are suckers for an anti-establishment, anti-mainstream cause. One practical issue is that laptop PCs only seem to last about three years, these days.  And it's getting harder to buy a replacement for $300, as in the recent past.  Chromebooks can be bought for that, but that just switches you to Google-Hate .  Chromebooks don't even have a delete key .  They are too browser-oriented for me -- Google deprives Chromebook of reasonable memory in order to force you to shove everything onto Google Drive , Google Photos, Google Docs, etc.  And Google will find a way to defeat any ad-blocking by the browser.  I was turned off by going to the Linux operating system by partitioning the drive of my current laptop, dual-b...

Certain dogs have charmed my socks off.  But 'charm' is not the word that first comes to mind when contemplating homo sapiens .  There must be exceptions.   In fact it is easy to run into exceptional and charming people in early summer.  That is the morel mushroom season .  Every year I run into mushroom-mongers in the inland Northwest , and every year they amuse me.  There is something wonderful about middle-aged and older adults acting as enthusiastic as puppies chasing a ball. And they love to talk about their obsession.  This year, an older couple drove by in a pickup and proudly showed their collection:  She held those mushrooms like they were nuggets of gold.  They gave lots of advice on the right way to cook them up. Early summer is so wonderful around here.  Yes, I know an Arizona-like furnace will be here in a month.  But let's enjoy paradise while we can.   The Little Salmon River was full of life:  ...

Are Americans changing what they eat, as a reaction to the shocking prices in the grocery stores?  It would be a significant silver lining to the foreign policy disasters of the current regime .  The whole idea of fast food has fallen out of my head.  Does it seem like McDonalds is less busy than the past?  Wouldn't it be nice to see thousands of Starbucks close?  Eating "out" has become unimaginable.  I am even shocked by the coffee prices at the gas station .  Even the junk food at the Dollar Stores has become unaffordable.   Obesity might become a shrinking industry in America.  Older men remember that you couldn't walk through a grocery store in the good old days, without turning the corner at an aisle and being surprised -- or momentarily stunned -- by some nice-looking young lady.  Imagine if that were to happen again! The worse the news becomes, the easier it is to become hopeful, almost to the point of escapism....