Whenever we see an image in the media, we are right to suspect that the picture may be meant to sway us one way or another, to color our perception of reality. The media is so powerful at times, for good and for bad, precisely because it can manipulate our perceptions of events. With that […]
Many of us have been watching with awe the brave struggle of the people of Ukraine against the onslaught of Putin’s invading Russian military. We’ve watched as homes and apartment buildings, hospitals and theaters, have been bombed, and thousands of civilians have died and been wounded. Such has been the nature of this war. The […]
I readily admit I haven’t had the opportunity to listen to all of the confirmation hearings for President Biden’s nominee to the United States Supreme Court, Kentaji Brown Jackson, or read extensively about her personal history or legal views. Like most people with a full-time job and family, the number of hours I can devote […]
A few days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I did a post called The Vaunted Russian Military and the Invasion of Ukraine where I gave some examples of Russian armies vastly underperforming, beginning with the Soviet’s disastrous invasion of Finland in 1939, in the so-called Winter War. A week later I did a post […]
My daughter and I took a walk in downtown Cleveland yesterday. Our plan was to park on the street and then walk to the lake front to watch the sunset. On the way we saw a large group of people, many with large Ukrainian flags, gathered in front of City Hall in a show of […]
The world has been shocked by the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Army over the last few days. President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation has been almost universally condemned. Most, including myself, did not give the Ukrainian forces much of a chance due to the overwhelming advantage in size of the Russian forces […]
I’ve heard it said many times in recent years that there is so much anger today in public discourse, particularly as to racial matters. The country is more divided, animosity is higher, people are so at odds. When I hear such sentiments I go back in my mind to what it was like when I […]
My wife Carrie has recently been diagnosed with a serious but treatable illness. The course of treatment will likely last many months, if not years, and entail a number of surgical procedures and other treatments. I went with her the second time she met with the Doctor supervising her care to go over some test […]
My first realization of the modern absurdity of virtual reality came a few years ago. Both my teenage sons were playing Fortnite pretty regularly. Fortnite is a video game where up to 100 players parachute onto an island. Once they hit the ground those cartoon-like characters gather weapons and other items then proceed to start […]
The Janisarries of the Turkish Ottoman Empire are said to have been the first standing army in Europe. The Janisarries where an elite fighting force from roughly the mid-1300’s to the early 1800’s. The Janisarries where made of young men captured and enslaved by the Ottoman Turks mainly from Southeast Europe: Greeks, Serbs, Croats, Albanians, […]