Of course, it’s the sphinx. Everyone knows that. Everyone. Since the beginning of time. Really? Odd. Did you know that when the Greek historian Herodotus visited Egypt in 450 BCE (Before the Christian Era), he did not see the sphinx?  … Continue reading →

I’ll bet you think you are looking at flowers. WRONG!  These are ‘fields’ of abandoned bicycles in China.  Talk about a traffic jam!  In 2017, in an effort to make the citizenry more mobile, scores of business offered free bikes … Continue reading →

OK, what time is it?  But there’s a real problem here – what happens if the instructions are to “put your hands on the steering wheel at 10 and 2?” I can understand why 3 is at 90 degrees but … Continue reading →

Just a bunch of camels, right? Yeah, but there is something lurking under those waters.   For some background, this is a photo of Guelta d’Archei, an oasis located four-day journey across barren sands of the Sahara Desert from the … Continue reading →

This is one of my favorite editorial pictures.  His name is “Has No Horses,” or, in the parlance of our era, “poor boy.” He was part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in about 1910 so he was probably making … Continue reading →

Nine miles Southeast of Skwentna and 59 miles north of Tyonek – and, yes, these are actual Alaskan communities – is Bulchitna Lake. And, yes, that is the actual name of the lake. Legend has it a homesteader used the … Continue reading →

Once upon a time, in a city far away, a tire dealer had a special understanding with a highly-placed person in city-government. Everyone knew of the freebee but no one could do anything about it because, well, you know, the … Continue reading →

Sadly, President Trump has killed a time-honored Alaskan institution: fake news. The REAL fake news. In the ‘good old days,’ tourists came to Alaska believing the most outlandish tales. It’s not surprising that many Outsiders believe we have six months … Continue reading →

On July 22, 1916, San Francisco held a Preparedness Day Parade to show its readiness for World War I.  Just as the parade started, a bomb went off and wiped out a contingent of the marchers.  San Francisco was in … Continue reading →

A century ago, this was a good job! Every era has its “good jobs” and those you “just have to take.” Over the next ten years, AI, Artificial Intelligence, will be the reason for hundreds of thousands of jobs disappearing. … Continue reading →