“I was stunned. I didn’t know what to say.”

“I was stunned.  I didn’t know what to say.”  And neither do I.  On what planet does this make sense???

More guns ≠ more crime...

More guns ≠ more crime...  Criminologist Gary Kleck – no stranger to controversy he – has published a new study debunking the trope that more guns cause more crime.  It's sure to twist progressive knickers...

Volcano under the stars...

Volcano under the stars...  Via APOD, of course...

Speechless, I am...

Speechless, I am...  USB typewriters.  I had thought that the faddish attraction to vacuum tube amplifiers was the ultimate expression of this particular type of insanity – but I think a USB typewriter (at prices approaching $1,000!) eclipses even that...

Strange nonchaotic attractors in the heavens...

Strange nonchaotic attractors in the heavens...  Spotted in the strange pulsations of a distant variable star...

Quote of the day...

Quote of the day...  From Strategy Page:

The accountants always win in the end.

Read the details of how ISIS is disintegrating from within.  It's encouraging, and gives a good explanation of how air power actually does have a good chance of bringing ISIS down (and accountants figure in this).  At the very least it should dramatically weaken them; in the best case it will defeat them...

Powerful photos...

Powerful photos...  Thirty-one, including the one at right which had me in tears the first time I saw it years ago...

Photos from the window seat of an airplane...

Photos from the window seat of an airplane...  Twenty-seven beauties like the one at right!

What did I think of Hillary Clinton's email explanations?

What did I think of Hillary Clinton's email explanations?  Inquiring readers want to know.  Well, the Wall Street Journal editorial board had basically the same reaction I did, which I can sum up with one word: “preposterous!”  Their lead:

Hillary Clinton’s admirers say she’ll run for President in part by invoking the glory days of the 1990s. For a taste of that era, we recommend her brief press conference Tuesday explaining why she had used a private email account as Secretary of State. It had everything nostalgia buffs could want—deleted evidence, blustery evasions, and preposterous explanations that only James Carville could pretend to believe.

I'm not even sure about Carville :)

Do go read the whole piece – it hits all the notes I would...