The prisoner exchange merits a closer look — It is great that WNBA star Brittney Griner is no longer in a Russian prison. She was unjustly arrested on a drug charge, subject to a sham trial, and subjected to inhumane conditions while in captivity. Recently she has been held at an infamous Russian penal colony in Mordovia, 210…

How did this magnificent bird survive Hurricane Ian? — I did not know what to expect when I returned to southwest Florida more than a week ago. Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 storm, devastated our community in late September. Hundreds of houses were destroyed damaged, including my own. Once I surveyed the damage to my house, my wife and…

By acting like a narcissistic gangster, Trump is doing what prosecutors and Democrats haven’t — Last week I remembered why I voted for Joe Biden in 2020. I liked the former VP, but what I really wanted was for Trump to be gone. And for a while, he was. He looked like and acted like a dead man walking. Then the FBI executed a search…

For some, the truth about Trump hasn’t worked; maybe pictures will — Mountains of evidence supporting the indictment of Donald Trump for the failed January 6, 2021 insurrection have failed to persuade a sizable group of Republicans that it’s time to move on. For whatever reasons, these Republicans have not seen Trump as an ugly human being that built a political career…

Sexual harassment will remain common until it is better understood and more aggressively prosecuted — We won’t have Andrew Cuomo to kick around in few days. The allegations of 11 women, most of them state employees, did him in. He not-so-graciously resigned, still not admitting his guilt, and cast his resignation as some sort of public sacrifice. …

A Salvia feeding frenzy — I wasn’t planning on photographing hummingbirds yesterday. This season, despite planting more Salvia than last year, we’ve had fewer hummingbirds. We don’t know why, but we’ve missed them. Yesterday afternoon, as I was reading on our porch, a particularly animated hummingbird started browsing the flowers. …

The Republicans tried to kill it — Is The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol dead? After Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two Republican appointees to the committee, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy withdrew his other four appointees and announced that his party would not participate in the investigation. …

A magnificent bird poses for a special photo — One benefit of kayaking in southwest Florida is the opportunity to see a variety of birds. On a good day, you are likely to see Osprey, Egrets, Blue Herons, Ibises, and an occasional Eagle. Beneath you and your kayak, there may be a manatee or even a dolphin. Smaller fish…

But how long do we have to wait for Donald’s? — Prosecutors will pound another nail into the Trump coffin next week when indictments are issued against the Trump Organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg. If these indictments are followed, as expected, with charges against Trump himself, the far-right’s use for Trump may be at an end. Predictions of Trump’s fall…

The gun-slinging Congresswoman from Rifle, Colorado Struts Her Stuff Members of the House Freedom Caucus offer political writers low-hanging fruit every day. If Matt Gaetz is not getting accused of more sex trafficking, Louie Gohmert is asking the Forest Service to change earth’s orbit to address climate change. …

The Amazon billionaire is going to outer space on July 20 on his own rocket Exercising one of the prerogatives that comes with an estimated $185 billion fortune, Jeff Bezos has booked himself a trip to outer space. The trip, scheduled for July 20, will be historic. He will be…

With prosecutors closing in, it’s looking like the last hurrah — Donald Trump held his first post-presidential ‘campaign style’ rally on June 26 in Ohio. If this sort of gathering is your thing, you better make plans on attending the next one, scheduled for July 3 in Sarasota, Florida. …

We are all swimming in it — that’s a problem — The last time I attended a football game in Washington, one of my fellow fans was wearing a cap reading, “Instant Asshole: Just Add Alcohol.” And add it he did. During the first three quarters of the game, the guy drank no fewer than six Budweisers. As the game progressed…

We need to understand what’s going on now to predict her future — Ready for the 2025 inauguration of President Harris? Some of us are. Others believe she is already president, setting all major policy decisions for a debilitated Biden while she prepares for the main event. Still, others see an out-of-her-league opportunist likely to lose to a Republican in 2024. Where’s reality…

A bumper crop gave us jam, bread, and fresh fruit for weeks — If I had a choice between giving up red meat or strawberries, the red berries would win. They are delightful, versatile, beautiful, and, for us, difficult to grow. Until this year, that is. Over the years, I have tried to grow strawberries several times. It looked easy. Buy some plants…

Fouling by fowl is, unfortunately, sometimes unavoidable — My apologies in advance for posting a picture of poop in SNAPSHOTS. I did not set out this morning on a photo expedition with either doggie poop bag dispensers or bird poop in mind. When I encountered this scene, however, something made me stop and snap the picture. At first…

Good thing I photographed him before he flew… —

I watched him feed for ten minutes before shooting him — No gun. My camera. The Limpkin is too beautiful a bird to harm. The day I spotted him peacefully feeding in a Florida marsh, he was almost too beautiful to photograph. …

We will be challenged on how to use our coming bounty We are about to have a berry problem. Thousands of berries are about to ripen in our garden. They will need to be picked within about two weeks. The first couple of berries have already ripened. …

A family of frogs lives in the drainage ditch by my mailbox. If we’ve had rain, they come out to forage for food. In warm weather, they stay safely out of the sun in a storm pipe. These frogs are sensitive to noise and danger. …