Updated from a column originally published September 14, 1999. In case you're wondering, yes, I've always been this way. Call it attitude, a unique view of the world, or faulty brain wiring; but it's deeply ingrained in me. You can even look it up... more

A couple of hours before dusk, you could see it. Sometimes it would move in wide circles. Sometimes it was turmoil traveling in a straight line between the lighthouse and Cockenoe Island. The Long Island shallows along the southern Connecticut coast offers plenty of food for reactionary blue fish: mackerel, sand eels, porgy, butterfish; basically anything that's shiny and moving... more

"Halima" hid under the bed and tried not to watch as the soldiers slit her brother's throat. It was 1999 in Sierra Leone and the country was in the middle of a bloody civil war. Halima waited until the killers left, then crawled out and ran to her brother Salim, who was not breathing. ... more

The circus and I go way back. Most of my childhood memories are unanchored by a calendar; but on July 8, 1966 I cajoled my father into writing down my day’s activities. So I have a written record that on that date, as I wound down for bedtime, I watched “The Greatest Show On Earth” on TV. (This was not long after I was mesmerized by a circus troupe that came to our small town.)... more

Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of my time in the car switching between Fox News Channel and CNN on satellite. I heard a promo for some channel with ‘master storytellers’ and was intrigued. Not really knowing what to expect, I switched over. What I found were two people still whining about the election... more

There's so much you're not being told about the alleged Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). First of all, let's get something out of the way. Nobody "hacked the election," as the left-wing media are telling you. No vote totals were changed. ... more

It seems there's a shortage of the old Hollywood Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland "Hey, kids -- let's put on a show!" exuberance. My son Gideon (a.k.a. magician The Amazing Gideon) was devastated to learn that lack of participation resulted in his middle school's--Cornersville Middle School, to be precise--talent show being canceled twice in the same school year... more

Self-driving automobiles made progress in 2016. The fear is by 2025 4 million American truck driving jobs will be in jeopardy. The only truck driving jobs left will be for ISIS suicide jihadis. Governor Jerry Brown, always eager to regulate, issued a DMV ruling that Uber's driverless cars in California will be illegal, but he did say they would be allowed to vote... more

On January 1 France implemented a new law that gives workers the legal "right to disconnect" from emails and other digital correspondence from co-workers and bosses while off the clock. For the sake of accuracy, I must point out that the law covers only companies with 50 or more employees, thus leaving out the mom-and-pop operations (or, as they call them in France, the mom-and-pop-and-pop's-mistress operations)... more

And now a few choice words for all Republicans advising Democrats to "stop whining about the election and get over it." Oh, really. Get over losing a presidential election to a high-strung petulant flake soon to be in possession of the nuclear codes? Get over a man destined to be leader of the Free World tweeting frivolous 3 am insults at Alec Baldwin?... more

It's clear President Obama ---- despite the boos from Flyover Country -- doesn't plan to get off the national stage any time soon. Unlike most former presidents, he's not going to leave Washington next month and quietly live out the rest of his days in one of the many hoods he grew up in... more

If your New Year's resolutions crash and burn, don't despair. According to an article in "Forbes" magazine, only eight percent of people achieve their New Year's goals of losing weight, de-cluttering the house, learning a new language or whatever. Coincidentally, Green Party candidate Jill Stein has demanded a recount of the survey. ... more

I know you've heard your entire life about our "democracy." I hate to be a nitpicker, but we are not, nor have we ever been, a democracy. We are a republic. You'll note that we pledge allegiance to the flag, and "to the republic for which it stands," not the democracy. But "democracy" is used so much by presidents and candidates that it's become almost interchangeable with "republic." Almost... more

I didn't know the young man well -- I'd hired him to do some handyman work around my house -- but it was awfully unpleasant to learn that he died at 24 with a needle in his arm. It was a bad batch of heroin. The statistics will tell you he was one of the thousands of people to die from heroin addiction -- a problem that is growing fast... more

My father passed away four years before my son Gideon was born. Sure, Gideon has seen old photographs and heard endless family anecdotes; but "Pappy," understandably, remains frustratingly abstract to him. According to NBC News, a Silicon Valley startup called Eterni.me is slowly but surely trying to make the dearly departed seem more real to future generations... more

In the last six weeks the liberal pundits and biased reporters of the Old Media have pulled a groin muscle trying to discredit President Trump in advance. First they played up the recount stories to make it look like the vote totals in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania were fudged somehow... more

The latest intelligence revelations about Russia's cyberpush for Donald Trump are so persuasive that even congressional Republican leaders have been compelled to take notice. There will indeed be investigations and hearings, in both chambers. It appears, for now anyway, that they actually view this unprecedented national security breach as nearly as important as Hillary's private server... more

Why does California even bother to have a border? Why does the United States of America? In 2013 the governor of our one-party state, Jerry Brown, and the Democrats in Sacramento effectively turned California into a sanctuary state. They told Washington that if any of the illegal immigrants arrested here had not committed a serious crime they would not be turned over to federal immigration officials for deportation... more

Well, the liberals are 0 for 3. Hillary Clinton lost the general election, she lost the recount, and now she's officially lost the Electoral College. All the talk leading up to the Electoral College count was how many electors Trump would lose. In the end, it was only 2, while Hillary lost 5!... more

Believe me, I understand if you're ambivalent or even disdainful of the religious aspects of Christmas. I understand why you couldn't care less which festive cups Starbucks uses, why you'd just as soon your grandchild be a dancing snowflake as an adoring shepherd, why "Season's greetings" resonates just as well as "Merry Christmas" with you, why you'd rather hear "Baby, It's Cold Outside" than Handel's "Messiah."... more