Sayin' Somethin'

See Something, Keep Your Yap Shut

Fairfield Inn & Suites in Avon, Ohio

Our Department of Homeland Security is quite fond of the phrase "see something, say something" as a way of emphasizing the importance of citizen vigilance to help thwart terror attacks. They like the phrase so much they even trademarked it.



So why is it we never learn about the frightening signals terrorists were sending until after they've committed some atrocity?

Well, perhaps it is because of reactions like the one that got a hotel clerk in Avon, Ohio fired from her job. We heard similar stories in the wake of both the Orlando and San Bernadino attacks: Suspicious behavior that either went unreported or was never acted upon because no one wanted to risk this kind of blowback from politically correct bureaucrats eager to punish Wrongthink.

"You bipeds can be remarkably self-destructive at times, do you know that?"

I know it all too well, actually...

Cruise Update

Today my best friend Skip and his wife Elaine were docked at Paarmiut, Greenland, where they took a walking tour...

...which included passing through the town's unique "gate"...

"What the heck ARE those?"

Supposedly they're teeth from some sort of whale...

Happy Birthday!

On July 7, 1906 Leroy Robert Paige was born in Mobile, Alabama. He acquired the nickname "Satchel" as a young boy (stories about the origins of the nickname are numerous), and by the time he was 18 his baseball skills had set him on the path to stardom.

As did many Negro Leagues stars, Paige played for several teams in the course of his illustrious career. I've always had a special fondness for him because he spent seven years playing for the Kansas City Monarchs.

When the Baseball Hall of Fame finally decided to induct Negro Leagues players in 1971, Satchel was the first such player voted in.

Comey's Intent is Very Clear, Though

From the incisive pen of Michael Ramirez, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

On July 7, 1860 Gustav Mahler was born in Kaliště, Bohemia (now known as the Czech Republic). He showed musical aptitude at a young age, and after graduating from what was then called the Vienna Conservatory in 1878, he embarked on a successful career as a conductor.

Ironically, it was Mahler's skill as a conductor which kept him busy enough that his body of compositions is relatively small. Nonetheless, as a composer he is regarded as a major transitional figure between the late Romantic period and the modernism which bloomed around the turn of the century.

My first exposure to Mahler's work was a 1973 recording of his Symphony No. 5 by the legendary Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. I was listening to KCUR's classical music show one Sunday, and they played this recording in its entirety. That led me to explore the rest of Mahler's work, and I have been a fan ever since.

The symphony's final movement, the "Adagietto," is arguably the best-known and most frequently performed of all Mahler's works.


It's elegiac qualities also resonate with me right now, as I'm still mourning the loss of my cat Roy last Friday.

Today's send-off is the von Karajan recording of the "Adagietto," paired with some evocative still photos. Enjoy...