Author Archives: Jim

Budget cuts and bureaucrats

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Jim

Booo! Sequestration is coming! Our military will be hollowed out! Toddlers will be ejected from Head Start classrooms! Our food will immediately spoil in the absence of federal inspectors! All medical research will be scrapped! That’s what politicians and the … Continue reading →

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Background checks and American Express

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Jim

One of the more sensible ideas emerging from the political soap opera of gun control is requiring a background check for everyone who purchases a firearm. That’s a great idea, but can we trust the government to do this? Not … Continue reading →

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Clinging to gun control

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Jim

I can’t help getting cynical about the current political spasm of gun control. The horrific massacre of schoolchildren by a mentally unbalanced shooter unquestionably was a tragedy and demands action. So what’s the instinctive response? Make it harder for sane, … Continue reading →

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It doesn’t have to make sense (corporate edition)

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Jim

My experience in the Navy was good preparation for a career in a giant corporation. That’s because both government and corporate bureaucracies do well-intentioned things that turn out to be idiotic and comical. The Dilbert comic strip has a big … Continue reading →

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It doesn’t have to make sense

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Jim

When I was young and figuring out how to use my brain, I became fascinated with logic and was intensely frustrated when I encountered things that did not make sense. Then I joined the Navy and learned that reason and … Continue reading →

Posted in Sea Stories | 1 Comment

The picket lines in our future

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Jim

The new right-to-work law in Michigan has been great political theater and may signal an interesting trend for government, politics and the American labor movement. President Obama’s election in 2008 was hailed as a victory for organized labor. His administration … Continue reading →

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Eating my way through Chicago

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Jim

I just returned from a visit to my hometown of Chicago. I get back to Chicago about once a year to reconnect with friends and relations and, on this trip, spend Thanksgiving with my kids. My secondary agenda, however, is … Continue reading →

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How I learned to love the bomb

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Jim

I grew up in the nuclear age. My grade school had duck-and-cover air raid drills, and as the Cold War intensified nuclear weapons had a pervasive impact on popular culture with films such as Seven Days in May and the … Continue reading →

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Press freedom and the election

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Jim

If a tree falls in the forest and the news media ignore it, does it make a sound? What constitutes news, and how that drives daily editorial decisions, is the subject of philosophic rumination in schools of journalism and daily … Continue reading →

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A lawn grows in the desert

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Jim

I bought a rain gauge for my garden a month ago and finally got enough rain to measure: almost two-tenths of an inch. That’s a big deal because Albuquerque averages only 9.4 inches of precipitation a year – compared to … Continue reading →

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