The United States of America abolished the draft (most recently) in 1973. Subsequent to that date, all the forces have been all-voluntary. Previous to that date, conscription had been an on-and-off sort of thing, occurring between the Revolutionary War and the Vietnam War, as convenient and as required. In these most recent days, as we… Continue reading What About The Draft?
Tag: inuinoueritas
Trouble in Paradise
Many decades ago (college actually, so about five) I had a friend who'd blurt out this phrase anytime something which had been going--to all appearances--rather swimmingly suddenly went sideways. Sometimes it was a relationship dust-up. Sometimes it was a class in which he'd been doing rather well, and then--suddenly--he wasn't. Or a job he'd liked,… Continue reading Trouble in Paradise
The Analytical Engine: “Dad” Edition
“The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform.”–Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace Augusta Ada Byron (she was the poet’s only legitimate child) was born a little over two-hundred-six years ago, on December 10, 1815. She was a few weeks shy… Continue reading The Analytical Engine: “Dad” Edition
An Open Letter, Four Years On…
...to the man who thought it might serve his purpose, once I'd outlived my usefulness to him, to portray me--a married woman in my mid-sixties with a dying husband and a recently murdered stepson--on his social media presence, as some sort of maniacal and deranged sex-obsessed stalker who'd forsake her principles, her marriage vows, her… Continue reading An Open Letter, Four Years On…
Honorably Discharged . . . My Bialetti Coffeemakers
...for having met the required standards of duty, performance, and personal conduct over the course of the last four-and-a-half years--ever since they were surprisingly gifted to me--and, simultaneously (and at the same time) to at least one other--by a former friend. While their terms of service and tours of duty may have been interrupted (certainly… Continue reading Honorably Discharged . . . My Bialetti Coffeemakers
Write What You Know
“The internet is not where you hide – it’s where you are found.“–Emily Aston Perrin I’ve been giving the advice found in the title of this post to student writers and friends for decades. It’s advice I follow myself, as anyone who’s read more than a few of my posts (thank you) must know. And… Continue reading Write What You Know
Photos, Or it Didn’t Happen: Part Two
I wrote recently about my visit to Thailand in 2018, and of a visit to Chiang Rai's spectacular White Temple. Competing for the role of "most famous Chiang Rai tourist attraction" (unless you're a golfer, in which case it's probably the Santiburi Country Club, which is also quite lovely--and the food is very good too--even… Continue reading Photos, Or it Didn’t Happen: Part Two
Photos, Or It Didn’t Happen
That's a saying we have on Ricochet. It may have been intitated by a former member known as Simon Templar; I'm not sure. In any event, it's become a popular phrase, and we generally try to oblige. One of the must-see sights in Chiang Rai, Thailand is Wat Rong Khun, or the White Temple. It's… Continue reading Photos, Or It Didn’t Happen
On Stalkers, Cyberbullies, and (Finally) Turning the Page
There are two sorts of people in the world: There are decent, kind, honest people who treat others the way they would like to be treated and who return good for evil when they encounter it in the world. And then there are those who are neither decent, nor kind, nor honest, and who take… Continue reading On Stalkers, Cyberbullies, and (Finally) Turning the Page