As the main route traversing the Outer Banks has once again been destroyed by tidal action, isn't it time to stop fighting nature and take steps to create a roadway that respects the fact that this thoroughfare is on a barrier island?

Back in 1997, I saw a Nova special on PBS called “Super Bridge.” It was about a project to build a replacement bridge for a critical route spanning the Mississippi River between Missouri and Illinois. It was fascinating to me, which I guess makes me into something of an engineering nerd, but whatever…

The special highlighted the advanced engineering of the bridge, which was designed by a company based in Florida known as the Figg Engineering Group. If an engineering company can have groupies, then I’ve become an unabashed Figg groupie.

So, are you sick of how the tech moguls are using your personal data to enrich themselves at the expense of your privacy? Do you even know the degree to which they've infiltrated your life? Do you have any clue how much of your personal data they've aggregated from your online activities over the years?

The worst is Google. Every time you've installed something from Google, such as Gmail or the Chrome browser, you had to agree to their terms in their end-user license agreement (EULA). It's that massively long document that you have to say you've read and agree to.

I've read a couple of social media posts recently in which some people suggested that Halloween 2026 be proclaimed DeFlock America Day. They suggest that this is a good day to take out the cameras because the wearing of masks is expected.

This made me remember a scene from an episode of NCIS. I was going to post the clip, but Paramount has such tight copyright controls that even my screen recorder software wouldn't record it. So... I pulled it up on my big screen and recorded it from that. The quality's not great, but...

Screw Paramount. I claim Fair Use .

As I look at what we've all borne witness to in terms of the grotesque abuses of power over the past year, I keep wondering, if you'll pardon the cliché, if it's not possible to turn lemons into lemonade.

I've been thinking that we should look at this as a sort of stress test - something that has laid the flaws in our Constitutional republic out for us to examine - and use it as an opportunity to fine-tune what our forefathers envisioned.