Keep The iPad, Santa. Send Me myDad.

From an inspiring photo sequence shared by my St. John's friend Tom Tierney

Naw, That's Okay

Hat tip to Tom Tierney

Why Men Usually Die First

Hat tip to Tom Tierney

Sorry About The Mess

Charlie Cook writes at "National Journal," under the headline "Trump's a Joke," about the tycoon's seriously strong poll numbers and adds:

"It's downright embarrassing," confessed one former Republican House member, when apprised of the results. Of course, Trump's chances of winning the GOP nomination are exceedingly remote, to say the least, and his poll numbers are all about name recognition. Anyone assuming that the reality-show host's interest in running for president is just another one of his publicity stunts would not likely be wrong. But what does it say about the Republican Party or, for that matter, the American people that this guy gets a second glance? Could a "Jersey Shore" personality be far behind? Legitimate Republican candidates have to wonder whether they'll be sharing a stage in the early debates with characters straight out of the bar scene in "Star Wars"?

Hat tip to Tom Tierney

Wooden You Know It

My St. John's friend Tom Tierney, formerly of Detroit and the U.S. Air Force, forwarded a compendium of Bernard Zee's photos from the 2009 air show and open house at Edwards Air Force Base. This is a Lockheed YO-3 Quiet Star, used for battlefield reconnaissance during the Vietnam war. Elements of its design, especially the wooden propeller, enabled it to fly at altitudes as low as 200 feet without being heard by the enemy.

Must Be Some Snow Plough

Lead, South Dakota, Jan. 5

Hat tip to Tom Tierney

Black Hawk Tom

That's Tom Tierney (USAF, ret.) of St. John's Church with a UH-60 Black Hawk on a recent fact-finding visit to Colombia and Honduras. Hey, Tom: One of those would sure be helpful for pastoral visits around southern California!

Just In Case You're Feeling Clueless Today

Hat tip to Tom Tierney

When God Looks Down On Bethlehem Tomorrow

Beginning from the Mediterranean coast near the center of the image, the first bright light is Tel Aviv. The one on the right is Amman, Jordan. In the middle is Jerusalem, six miles north of Bethlehem. The photo was taken from the International Space Station. More images here.

Hat tip to Tom Tierney

God Is "Do" Spelled Backwards, Without The "G"

In March 2009 in Antwerp's Central Station, a promotional stunt for a Belgian TV show. Not unlike the Random Acts of Culture we've been seeing in the U.S. It's gotten over 23 million hits. I'm thinking about why these things make us so happy. There may be a Christmas Eve sermon in it!

Hat tip to Tom Tierney

It's Terrifying Being Green

According to my St. John's friend Tom Tierney, authority on all things aeronautical, who provided this arresting photo, as this 747 operated by Taiwan-based EVA Air took off from Amsterdam, the photographer was 475 feet from the fence. You can guess how close the plane was.

Steath Bomber

From an airplane aficionado via my St. John's friend Tom Tierney (ditto), an image of a B-52 prototype (wrapped in canvas tarps for security's sake) outside Boeing's Plant II in Seattle in 1952.

It's Never Too Early For "Messiah"

On Oct. 30, 650 choristers from the Philadelphia area, mingling with Macy's shoppers, performed a stately "Hallelujah," somehow accompanied by the world's largest pipe organ. Organizers called it one of 1,000 planned Random Acts of Culture.

Hat tip to Tom Tierney

Who Weeps For Detroit?

My St. John's friend and fellow Detroiter Tom Tierney sent some amazing photos of the Motor City in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, then vibrant, now decayed almost beyond imagining. This one was taken downtown at the corner of Woodward and Fort St. in 1952, two years before my birth. That could be my dad in front of the bus, eying my mother in the flowered skirt. Not really, but you know what I mean.

At a luncheon on Thursday, I met another Michigander, Justin McCusker, who handles governmental relations for South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa and is writing a doctoral dissertation for USC about imaginative ways to promote Detroit's recovery. As much as 40% of the land within the city limits is vacant. Bringing it back from decades of economic dislocation and abysmal management, Justin said, will take the best ideas we have (including his; he's incredibly passionate about the subject).

To underscore how the city's trauma has slipped into the shadows, Justin asked how many of us had even heard about the Sept. 7 firestorm that destroyed 71 widely spaced Detroit homes before firefighters could even arrive. None had.

Hello, Columbus

St. John's member Tom Tierney sent this great shot of Columbus Circle in New York City. I believe he snapped it from a building that Donald Trump built after I left the East coast in 1990.

State And Church

Library of Congress

Hat tip to Tom Tierney for this amazing on-line catalog of Civil War-era photographs, most from the Library of Congress. According to its caption, this one shows the "old Trinity Church" and U.S. Capitol dome, which was constructed between 1855-66, as it nears completion. So far, I can't discern which Trinity Church.

Waiting For The Jubilee Train

Breathtaking photos, all in color, taken by government photographers during the Depression and early years of World War II. The boy was in Columbus, Ohio in 1942 or 1943.

Hat tip to Tom Tierney

You Can't Even See The Cord!

Tom Tierney has sent his friends another batch of photos expressing Americans' innovative spirit.

Wooden Boots

Hat tip to Tom Tierney for this celebration of American masters of the work-around

Pressing A Constitutional Point Too Far

Cartoon by Michael Ramirez. Hat tip to Tom Tierney