ChrisR

I accidentally stumbled here into At The End of the String, by Simon Jimenez. Bar none, it is the finest short story I may have ever read. It's not your typical happy-go-lucky tale by any stretch of the imagination. But it is true beauty in prose. http://awesomedude.com/simonj/at_the_end_of_the_string.htm

Oh yeah. I know your brother, Blimp.

I would hate to be a tween under Luther's authority following his very public humiliation. He has not thus far shown himself to be particularly teachable, and I would fear some serious repercussions on anybody smaller than himself. Or, even moreso, the boys under the authority of his humiliator.

Seems to be a well-done report, almost restrained one might say. It will be interesting to see what comes of the Russians' offer to provide a transcript of the White House meeting. I'd love to see both teams, US and Russia, release theirs simultaneously and check what the differences might be. If items were discussed that were classified, the President might skate through, as he is the top of the US classification food chain. But if the items from a foreign country's intelligence service are classified NOFORN by way of an international treaty, that might throw a monkey wrench into the works -- treaties are the bailiwick of Congress. Either way, Mr. Trump has created for himself a nightmare. He could sure use with a convenient North Korean distraction.

What - you got a mouse in your pocket? ;) Somewhat more seriously, who is the "we" of which you speak? The most recent North Korean declared-nuclear-capable missile launch, rated as a success, landed in waters about 50 miles from Vladivostok. Are the Russians screaming? Launched from western North Korea, the missile must've passed pretty close to China. Is Beijing sounding alarms? But the US sends the Carl Vinson carrier task force some 6000 miles to be in the neighborhood and it's the US who should step up to the plate? Because somebody - maybe the evil North Koreans - or maybe some zit-faced kid in Alberta - had the audacity to mess with The Internet? It seems a bit far-fetched. Realistically, only one nation in the world has ever given up its nuclear weapons, and there are arguments that the underlying causes were more racial than peace-loving. On the other hand, North Korea, having put itself in its own place, alone against the world, is unlikely to start cozying up any too soon, so we're going to have to continue to accept the reality of their being a nuclear power. Short of another devastating war there seems little choice. As for the most recent attack on the Internet, I'd prefer we let the "professionals" identify the actual culprits and take whatever sweet revenge might be appropriate. But I won't cry too hard if we accidentally cut all of NK's network cables in the interim.

C'mon, Nigel - what president in his right mind would have tapes of his conversations lying around?

Chris - Any idea what piano he's using? I've never heard such a profound difference between treble and bass. Incredible!

Unfortunately, Mr. Olberman is in this case well-spoken and cutely philosophical, but completely wrong. You CAN fire the man investigating you if that man is in your chain of command. And the Justice Department is in the Executive Branch of the US Government. The US Attorney General works for, and at the pleasure of, the President. And, in turn, so does the Director of the FBI. Now if the investigation is by a separate branch -- say a Congressional committee -- that's a different story. An investigator in that case cannot be fired by somebody in the Executive Branch. Obviously, that would seem to put the ball in Congress's court (so to speak). Will they take the necessary action? But there is a problem there. For aside from Mr. Olberman's clever rhetorical game of endlessly repeating his select mantra, what specific Constitutional "high crime or misdemeanor" has been committed that justifies impeachment? None other than culpable stupidity, for which the American voter is equally guilty. Unfortunately, I don't know if our Vice President, selected quite likely as one who would not allow his shadow to overtake Fearless Leader, will be much of a replacement in the event wisdom prevails. Likely he wouldn't be as bad, but that's an awfully low hurdle. It's one helluva mess. Oh. And just as a reminder for Mr. Olberman, by the way, that "man" of his mantra can also be a "woman".

I'm amazed that in all of the electoral falderal I never saw any interviews with Trump's NYMA comrades - positive OR negative. Something tells me there should have been some interesting stories and associated lessons to be learned.

When you say "Military Schools" of what do you speak? The official US Military Academies (West Point, Annapolis, Colorado Springs, New London) or US Military Technical Training facilities (for active duty military technical training) or self-defined 'military' schools (i.e., The Citadel and VMI) or pre-collegiate military schools (i.e., Admiral Farragut and St. John's)? Lots to choose from! Almost all of the US Govt schools have indeed gone co-ed in recent years, though some private schools and a few specialized military training courses were still all-male as of the years you cite. Very few are still around today. And what general type of information was being assembled? That might help define folks who would respond.

And if anybody needs some mood music for A Summer Sonata...

The facts are considerably less ominous than the original article and, even worse, subsequent false stories saying Trump "persuaded" Argentina to rescind the award. Simply not true. The fact is that President Carter has accepted the award and it will be presented at a time and place to be decided. It could just be that the 91-year-old former president, now in remission from both brain and liver cancer, couldn't pop on over to DC during the 2 days the Argentine president was in town. http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/225521/carter-accepts-order-of-the-liberator-general-san-martín-award

I found it very well written with not many grammatical errors. A bit of dialog a bit ahead of their age group from time to time, but that's perhaps indicative of some talented kids. Nicely done. But I really REALLY hope there's a sequel in the works!! I know the old saying "Always leave 'em wanting more!" but c'mon now! I guess if it wasn't so good I wouldn't care so much.

Let's see now... I've tried ten-pin, duck pin, and candle pin, but never five pin. Nice to know there might still be pleasant outings! Thanks for a great tale.

Great character development so far. At least a couple of decent staff members. Of course when the little monsters arrive, ANYthing can happen!

I agree that the article is interesting, but it seems rather lacking in professionalism. What are the credentials of the author? What are the names of the studies she cites? Where, by whom and for what period of time were they conducted? Where are the published findings? Are there any comparative international studies that examine initial and long-term health implications of intact vs circumcised males? We should get suspicious when we read medical recommendations by some uncredentialed "Dr. Momma" endorsed by only 18 actual MD/equivalents in California and half that number in New York!

Wow! Most of the writers around here probably didn't get started until WAY later than that! The way you capture the rapture of childhood. it has obviously stayed with you. Thanks.

Has the Trump administration already removed those questions? That would be almost lightning speed for a government, given the presentation the Census Bureau made in September of last year ( https://www.census.gov/hhes/samesex/files/FinalPresentation.pdf ). Admittedly, even this household study is only a step along the way. What was once simply LGBTQ has morphed into 31 gender identities according to the NYC Mayor's office ( http://dailycaller.com/2016/05/24/new-york-city-lets-you-choose-from-31-different-gender-identities/ ). At some point trying to come up with an honest assessment of 'who's what' is most likely to fail. Overall, what would be the purpose for such a governmental probe? Would it actually serve a specific, more than curiosity, societal need, or should we focus on health-related census inquiries instead, or should we just get back to the original purpose and count the people??

A discovery from many years back has been re-interpreted after considerable work. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/07/embracing-figures-pompeii-could-have-gay-lovers-scan-reveals/

Quite true. Great teamwork, kids! Woodward and Bernstein should check their rear view mirrors to see who's moving up to take their places!

Capitalization is simply the musical standard for the name of any given note. It probably falls under the same category as "Why is there Air?". It's just the common form. Chords, on the other hand, can be represented via UPPER CASE LETTERS or ROMAN NUMERALS (a MAJOR chord) and lower case (a minor chord). ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Music#Capitalization ) As for your "sharp" notation, btw, the 'pound' sign is oft used but technically incorrect. The musical sharp is character U+266F and is basically the 'pound' sign tilted back into the vertical position. On the Character Map for Times New Roman it's about 80% down the list, alongside the playing card suit markings. Rutabaga does a great job with passing tones, so for simplification purposes, I might suggest swapping out "Why is the sound of the note F# (F sharp) so dissonant..." for "Why does the F-sharp sound so dissonant when it intrudes on an F-major chord?"

What makes it more intriguing is that it's also the lead story on Drudge of all places! ( http://drudgereport.com/ ) The second Drudger is a not-dissimilar entry from the Washington Post written by Robert Redford: ( https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/robert-redford-45-years-after-watergate-the-truth-is-again-in-danger/2017/03/31/d7b9bb8c-1334-11e7-ada0-1489b735b3a3_story.html ) Both without commentary!

Boris! Natasha! You're back!! Welcome home!!!

For those folks reading the story, I just bumped into a website that's a great adjunct to the current place in the China Boat storyline. http://www.willysthomas.net/CathayHotel.htm#cathay has some great period photographs of Shanghai including the streets, hotels, and throngs that help bring our hero's travels to life. Enjoy.

Nah. Do it like the pros do in McKinney, Texas. Build your local high school a $70 million dollar football shrine so the boys can play on it for about 12 hours per school year and the band can get 12 10-minute half-time spots amidst them. Cheerleaders can just make do with silly sideline routines whilst the true heroes struggle on the gridiron. Mind you, that amount of dollars would purchase 70,000 laptops for your kids (about 200 years' worth) but We The People know what is important. (And this one is a discount. The $60 million stadium in Allen, Texas, was condemned a couple years ago just 18 months after it was completed because the concrete was crumbling. Same concrete they'll use for The Wall?) And there's also the stadium at Katy, Texas, and... and... and... Believe it or not, all of these fiascos seem to be independent of The Donald.