Culture, Plain Speaking, Politics, War

The Simple Things–On the 96th Anniversary of My Mother’s Birth

More than seven years ago, just before the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States sent the world into perpetual "tilt" mode , I wrote this post on Ricochet.  I'm reprising it here on the day my mother would have turned 96. November 6, 2016: I spent several hours this morning doing… Continue reading The Simple Things–On the 96th Anniversary of My Mother’s Birth

Culture, Plain Speaking, Politics, War

The Simple Things

More than five years ago (November 2016, just before the election), I wrote this post on Ricochet.  I've not posted it here yet, but today I do. A headline in today's Telegraph: "A Shell Crushed the Family Next Door." Memories. For Ukraine.  And the glory of the simple things.   I spent several hours this… Continue reading The Simple Things

Quote of the Day, War

Russian Soldiers: “We were deceived and used like meat shields”

Unlike many these days, I don’t pretend to know exactly what’s going to happen in Ukraine over the short and long term.  My own position is that Russia has invaded a sovereign country that has just as much right to make its own way as does any other, and that that fact in and of… Continue reading Russian Soldiers: “We were deceived and used like meat shields”

Culture, Family, History, Life, Plain Speaking, Quote of the Day, War

Rosyjskie Diabły

I learned that little Polish phrase from the late Mr. She, not very long after I met him, on a day when we were swapping stories about our eccentric and (in wholly different ways) exceptional families. It’s one of the few (SFW) bits of Polish I know, and I say it with great determination and… Continue reading Rosyjskie Diabły