All Purls. No Swine.
It was 104 years ago today, on August 18, 1920 that these United States granted all women full voting rights. The vote which put the amendment over the top came from Tennessee which--by just a single vote from representative Harry Burn--moved it forward. (There's a story there, disputed, but a story, nonetheless, related here in… Continue reading Happy Nineteenth Amendment Ratification Day!
It was the first of Bernard Cornwell's "Richard Sharpe" novels to be published, although it ended up, over the decades, being eighth in the chronological order of our hero's history. It was set in July of 1809, amidst the Battle of Talavera, an iconic bookmark during the Peninsular war between the Napoleonic armies and those… Continue reading Sharpe’s Eagle–The Battle of Talavera
Lather. Rinse. Repeat: Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters, there is something which there are no words to express. So said Joseph Addison, seventeenth-century essayist,… Continue reading Happy Father’s Day, 2024!
Via Scott Johnson at powerlineblog.com. This past Saturday I met Aaron MacLean, host of the School of War podcast. Aaron is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Before that, he worked on Capitol Hill as senior foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Senator Tom Cotton and served on active duty as a… Continue reading A Podcast Recommendation For Those Who Love Military History
A gently revised revisit of a post from many years ago: Dear Dad, Sixteen years ago today I got the phone call that I’d been expecting for several months, but kept on hoping would never come. My sister told me that you were gone. I don’t think I’ve ever completely recovered. Oh, I’ve moved on… Continue reading Dear Dad–2023
The following is a lightly edited version of a post I wrote on the Queen's death, a year ago today: The only British monarch of my lifetime died a year ago today. She was crowned in June 1953, slightly more than a year before I was born. I was named after her, “Elizabeth,” and–for my… Continue reading “I have to be seen to be believed”–Queen Elizabeth II
It’s been 16 years since my father departed this earth, and I miss him every day. Most days, I still chat with him, even now. (He can sometimes be quite helpful with advice for my life’s little projects and problems. I’ve found that he’s not nearly as excitable as he once was, which can–on occasion–be… Continue reading Always My Dad–A Belated Fathers’ Day Post for 2023
Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters, there is something which there are no words to express. So said Joseph Addison, seventeenth-century essayist, playwright, and politician… Continue reading Happy Fathers’ Day, 2023!
Seventy-nine years ago today, on June 4, 1944, my father marched into Rome, his British Army regiment having been seconded alongside Mark Clark's Fifth Army. (What Dad had to say, from a personal standpoint, about General Mark Clark doesn't bear thinking about.) My mother always pooh-poohed the whole thing (not unusual for Mum to do… Continue reading “His Holiness Will Receive You in a Few Moments–I could Have Dropped Dead!”
Cross-posted from Ricochet: Oh, “dear, dear, dear.” I tried out that phrase, beloved of my father when dealing with a screaming infant, on my 18-month-old niece a few days ago. She immediately picked it up and responded, “deoo, deoo, deoo,” thus instituting the first two-way conversation we’ve ever had, even if only over the phone. I’m… Continue reading Music Hall Memories