Things often run in pairs, sometimes in triads or other fractions of clusters. The mother of my son’s girlfriend moved a few years ago from where she rented (to be near her daughter at the time) to a place she bought in a senior community nearby. I helped with the…

“Top Gun: Maverick,” the long-awaited film sequel to the original 1986 “Top Gun” has been released recently. It opened to rave reviews (Tomatometer: 97%; Audience: 99%) and smashing statistics at the box office (over $474M domestically, $900M worldwide). That is all well and good. But both films were merely that…

Probably most American children have fond memories of Christmas. I do. My recollection of Santa Claus is foggy. I don’t know if there ever was a time I believed in him. I might have been inclined to, but older siblings disabused me of that notion. There were 5 of them. …

I recently encountered something that surprised me. Use of this verb brings to mind something that purportedly happened to Noah Webster, he of dictionary fame. Variations of the incident exist, and to different lexicographers. Ever the defender of precision of verbiage, he was giving dictation to his secretary, who happened…

Latest polls indicate Biden’s popularity is low. Lower than even his predecessor’s. There are reasons for that. Some perhaps unfair. But, as a Zen proverb says: “To those who do not understand, things are as they are. To those who understand, things are as they are.” It seems to matter…

Much as news such as this may be uplifting to those supportive of Ukraine in its effort to resist and repel the relentless march of the Russian bear in Russia’s effort to deNazify, demilitarize, and rescue people of like mind oppressed by the democracy of Ukraine, there may be cogent…

Russia is commonly thought of in terms of a bear. In the minds of most, the animal that most comes to mind when the country is mentioned. A large, hulking, plodding bear, perhaps slow to anger, but, once aroused, difficult to calm. In the bloody history of that turbulent country…

French President Emmanuel Macron recently warned against humiliating Russia in their current ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine, which arguably did nothing to provoke the Russian bear. Here is one report: Russia must not be humiliated in Ukraine, says Emmanuel Macron Russia must not be humiliated in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron has said, to allow an improvement in diplomatic relations…www.theguardian.com

War is a bad thing. Unless you think of it in the twisted terms of ‘a special military operation,’ designed to de-Nazify and liberate Russians suffering under the repressive regime of an open democracy like that of Ukraine, and disarm reckless Ukrainians who apparently don’t know how to handle arms. …