"Few sons, indeed. are like their fathers. Generally they are worse; but just a few are better"
  - Athena, appearing to Telemachus in the form of Mentor

Dear Dad,

I was thinking of you the other day, and realise that I hadn't written to you in, well basically, forever. Back in my boarding school days I wrote every week, but then of course, I had to - they made me. I probably would have written to you, just not…

In a small way for some, a huge way for others, history was made early this morning.

At 7:44 GMT, a Falcon 9 booster with a Dragon spacecraft atop it successfully launched from Cape Canaveral. 13 minutes later, it was in orbit. It successfully shut down its engines and deployed its solar panels, switching to solar power.

Even as I write this, thousands of people involved - the employees and relations of SpaceX foremost - are celebrating.

The United States has placed a…

This is an original recipe that I pulled together at the last minute, from whatever was in my mother's refrigerator. Feel free to make substitutions or use your own leftovers.

1 pre-made pie crust, already rolled into a perfect circle, leftover from Thanksgiving, expired

2 individually frozen wild salmon fillets (remove plastic)

8 eggs, four white, four brown

organic Havarti cheese…

Newt Gingrich ran for the Republican nomination for the Presidency in 2012, and after competing for three months, dropped out of the race.

Actively being seeking political office was something that Newt Gingrich had not done for some time. After leaving the speakership and congress in 1999, Gingrich worked as a political consultant and on the lecture circuit for the next decade or so. His entry into the nomination in the…