December 17 Hence, No Column December 17, 2010March 19, 2017 Today is Wright Brothers Day, marking the 107th anniversary of Kitty Hawk and man’s first powered heavier-than-air flight. That we would have landed on the moon just 66 years later tells you something about the speed at which the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are coming together. That they’re coming together faster and faster (see Kurzweil) drives home the hyperbole of the last century and this next one — after 5 billion years of evolution (with apologies to the Republican presidential candidates who do not subscribe to that theory), it pretty much comes down to these two centuries. What a time to have been born! To be alive! To be part of the struggle to keep it all from flying off the rails. I tell you this because part of that struggle is getting my *#&#X#%%-ing Outlook email imap pop server SMA whatever to be recognized by something that’s not recognizing it, which I can only imagine it suddenly does not do because — for my protection — Microsoft did something to my computer in the middle of the night, and thus I am on the outskirts of computer hell and there will be no column today. But long-time readers will know that even when there’s no column, I at least try to make up a funny (to me) excuse (“roses are red, violets are blue, yesterday’s column will just have to do”) or blame it on some obscure holiday I have chosen to observe. So I looked up December 17 and found that it was maybe National Underdog Day (arguably, December 19; arguably not a day at all) and the 233rd anniversary of France’s recognition of our united states, and Chris Matthews’ 65th birthday, and Chris Mason’s 41st (the English darts player), and really not much else — Bhutan’s National Day — beyond Wright Brother’s Day, federally observed by Presidential Proclamation. So it will have to do. No column today. Go see “The King’s Speech” if, unaccountably, you st-t-t-t-t-ill have not; and have a great weekend.