All Purls. No Swine.
Whoops. I missed it. Yesterday, November 29, 2024 was the 126th birthday of one of my favorite writers in all of recorded history, Clive Staples (Jack) Lewis. I've written about him often, even when it wasn't his birthday, but today I'm going to do a bit of a rehash of a post from a few… Continue reading Quote of the Day: “To Love is to be Vulnerable”
I don't need to get into Matt Gaetz or Pete Hegseth territory here. Let's just takes Trump's nominees for FDA Commissioner, CDC Director, and Surgeon General. Let's start with one article: What to know about Trump's picks for CDC, FDA and surgeon general. It's from NPR. Taxpayer-funded broadcasting. Here's another, what PBS has to say… Continue reading Wilful and Politically-Biased Ignorance: The Mainstream Media’s Reportage on Trump’s Picks
My daily dose of history, specifically for November 21, informs me that I should be aware that, 44 years ago today, on November 21, 1980, "Millions tune[d] in to find out who shot J.R." Aside from the fact that I'm not sure that "millions" tune in anymore to find out what's going on anywhere on… Continue reading Who, or What, Shot J.R.? (Whoever He Was)
...on November 18, 1978, I was sitting in the little snack bar in the base station of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington (a short mountain, comparatively speaking, but one which has its own set of challenges for climbers), prior to setting out on an expedition with the late Mr. Right, “when our love was young,” as… Continue reading 46 Years Ago Today, in Jonestown, Guyana….
The Telegraph is full of stories today about yesterday’s resignation of the Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the latest in a long line of senior clergy of one or another Christian denomination who have been brought to account for covering up horrific crimes committed by churchmen, in this case, the jaw-dropping decades of… Continue reading The Downfall of an Archbishop and the Rise of a Soldier
Today, November 12, 2024 is the 70th anniversary of the closure of Ellis Island, once the foremost inspection and processing station for prospective immigrants to the United States of America. Untold millions passed through its gates during its 64 years of operation, and it stands today as a museum highlighting the history of the United… Continue reading Ellis Island, A Personal Retrospective
A Ricochet post from November 10, 2018. Updated and reposted today, November 10, 2024, in honor of the 249th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. Several years ago, a United States Marine Corps career officer of my acquaintance observed that, for a foreigner, for a civilian, and for a woman, I seem to have… Continue reading United States Marines I Have Known and Loved–And a Couple of Others
I’m grateful to the Ricochet member who–in a comment on a main feed thread about something else–drew my attention to this Public Service Announcement by a bunch of soi-disant celebrities,** just eight years ago. Thank you: https://youtu.be/e1zjNntlXPo I’m still not exactly sure what they’re advocating for. Oh, wait. Yes, I am sure. They're advocating for the… Continue reading The Purpose of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
My subject is War and the pity of War. The poetry is in the pity"--Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, beloved son, accomplished poet, and soldier of The Great War, was born on March 18, 1893 in Oswestry, a Welsh border town, in the county of Shropshire. Readers of Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael chronicles, or… Continue reading “He is all blood, dirt, and sucked sugar-stick”–Revisiting William Butler Yeats vs Wilfred Owen
Anyone who reads at all diversely during these bizarre 1920s cannot escape the conclusion that a number of crazy men and women are writing stuff which remarkably passes for important composition among certain persons who should know better--James Thurber on Gertrude Stein Bless. I last wrote about Thurber several years ago, on the anniversary of… Continue reading In Memoriam, James Thurber