Well, fuck. Terry Pratchett, the author of the renowned Discworld series and whose books I discovered not too long ago, has been diagnosed with an early form of Alzheimer’s. His open letter to his fans is a more whimsical take on the typical British stiff-upper-lip regard for bad news and I truly hope his cautious optimism is justified. Everything I’ve heard about him indicates that he’s as brilliant and humane in real life as he is on paper. There’s an alarming shortage of decent, brilliant people in the world, so I’m going wish him the best and add more of his books to my reading list.

The NYT reports that the the Social Security Administration’s overwhelming backlog of disability appeals is forcing people to wait years before they can get their appeals heard. The delays can be so severe that some people lose their homes or even die before they can get a hearing. The article points out that approximately two-thirds of appeals result in the awarding of disability benefits, which makes the initial review stage seem more like a bureaucratic hoop rather than a meaningful assessment process. A substantial number of those waiting for a hearing date are individuals with mental illness, which raises questions about how disability examiners treat such claims on first blush. These examiners do play a crucial gatekeeping role, but the extraordinarily high rate of successful appeals indicates that the system seems to err on the side of denying benefits and hoping they’ll go away. We should be able to do better than that.

Today’s posting was delayed because of an uncommonly packed social calendar. And it continues tomorrow. By then, I might even be thawed out from tonight’s polar expedition (actually, just a walk to the cinema, but I still a want a medal for valor).

I have a bad habit of putting off holiday shopping until a worrisomely late date. I don’t like simply buying things that are on people’s wish lists or giving gift cards if I can avoid it; I guess I’m old-fashioned in that respect. But the thought of trying to find suitable gifts for everyone has a certain paralyzing effect on me. Fortunately, I don’t have many people to buy for.

One of the most interesting presidential candidates to watch at the moment is former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. Not too long ago, he was considered an also-ran, something which puzzled me. The combination of his likable personality and conservative Christian street cred should have made him particularly appealing to the evangelical wing of the GOP, but he hasn’t caught on until now. Huckabee is now rocketing towards the top of the Republican pack, both in Iowa and nationally.

Huckabee could be a formidable candidate for the Republicans. Many conservative Christians seem to view him as one of their own and he has that Southern good-ol’-boy charm that seems irresistible to so many American voters. But the presidency can’t be won solely on the backs of evangelicals and this is what could cause Huckabee difficulties. The anti-tax fanatics in the Republican party don’t look kindly on some of the tax hikes he implemented as governor. Huckabee needs to convince the big-business donors to open their wallets for him and this hasn’t happened yet.

Of all the Republican candidates, Huckabee strikes me as the most, well, daft. His proposal to enact a fair tax is deeply flawed and his denial of evolution, while predictable, demonstrates a kind of zealotry that has no place in the White House. The odds are still pretty good that Huckabee will flame out, but he shouldn’t be discounted yet.