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Friday, March 08, 2024

Friday, March 01, 2024

She Carries on the Struggle ~ In spite of Threats


 Alexei Navalny's wife, Julia
before the European Parliament.
Photo: The Parliament Magazine

Sunday, February 18, 2024

Man of Courage ~ Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny

       † Feb.16, 2024
 He was a patriot. He loved Russia, but a different one that Putin's.
                                                     Photo: AEJ

Saturday, January 06, 2024

Remembering January 6, 2021

 Most Americans still wince when thinking back to this day. 

Photo: AL.com

Friday, November 10, 2023

Sign of the Times ~

When they started putting electric light bulbs in sanctuary lamps, the Catholic church started to falter.

Monday, September 11, 2023

Remembering the Day ~

 Nine Eleven


On September eleven
when it happened
while we watched
we could not help thinking about
our own thin brick walls
left standing around us
here, in the heartland.

Walled in between
panic and gratitude
we sat gaping,
not noticing
how our helpless tears
would not stop falling.

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

A Nation of Maimed Men ~

For all our ingenuity, where is the inventor of a device to let landmines explode before courageous Ukrainians pass over. 

Thursday, July 20, 2023

A Weighty Choice~

It is much easier to live with an illusion than with reality, . . . with a belief than with a fact. 

Saturday, July 01, 2023

Bolsonaro ~

                                                                                                       Wikipedia
Brazil's answer:  Not allowed to run for office until 2030.
                                                                        

Wisdom ~

Only the man who is able to stand alone can see reality as it is, free from the opinion of others.   


Friday, June 16, 2023

Boris Johnson ~ Made to Resign

                                                                           BBC
 Will the USA follow suit?

Monday, April 24, 2023

Saturday, March 25, 2023

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Learning to Cope ~

 The most important dialog is the one between me and myself.


Saturday, March 04, 2023

Protesting in Russia ~ 2023

The father of a 12-year-old girl who drew this antiwar picture in her elementary school art class in Russia is facing criminal charges and a potential three-year prison sentence, and his daughter has been placed temporarily in an orphanage.                            The Washington Post

BBC

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Opposing Adolf Hitler ~ February 22, 1943


Hans and Sophie Scholl were students who distributed flyers in the main foyer of the University of Munich protesting the War and Hitler's dictatorship. A janitor took note and called in the Gestapo. They were hauled into court and four days later were beheaded.        Photo: dpa

Monday, February 06, 2023

In the Cold of Winter ~

Photo: Brigitte Nake-Mann

Snowdrops in January, Grosser Tiergarten, Berlin 
 

Last Night's Dream ~

He was just a young kid who had come back from Vietnam and he was telling me how deathly afraid he was when out on patrol at night opposing the Viet Cong . . . 

Saturday, December 24, 2022

Friday, November 11, 2022

Sunday, October 30, 2022

The Autumn Leaves ~

The leaves seem to be hanging on a little longer this year, just to give us some colorful cheer in these dreadful times. 

Sunday, September 11, 2022

The Extraordinary ~

We lost two great personages in one week:

Queen Elizabeth II

Mikhail Gorbachev

Monday, August 29, 2022

Sunday, July 17, 2022

A Nightly Visit ~

And there I was, in the old Bach choir again, not in the bass section but among the tenors now, singing away and reaching all the high notes.

Wednesday, July 06, 2022

Atmosphere~

cambridge.org

  When at the altar, you walk differently.  

Saturday, June 18, 2022

Scarlett S. ~ Sadness for Our Region

Suedkurier
Scarlett S.
 A girl hiking in the Black Forest who disappeared in October 2020 and, in spite of continued searching, has never been seen since. 

Friday, June 17, 2022

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Symbolism ~

How appropriate, that Putin used half of Hitler's swastika  Z as his war emblem.

Monday, May 16, 2022

Thursday, May 12, 2022

No Questions Asked ~


Down around the corner from where we live in Germany, a vacant house has been made available for Ukrainian refugees who arrived here with little more than their backpacks. 

Sunday, May 01, 2022

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

How It is Done ~

 We stand by and watch Putin, singlehandedly, provoke World War III. 

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Looking the Other Way ~

We gave so little consideration to a bolder attempt to stop Putin. We spent years pleading with him and threatened with sanctions. He scoffed at them.

Monday, February 28, 2022

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky ~ Democracy

  
                                        Washington Post

“We are alone in defending our state. Who else wants to fight with us? Honestly, I don’t see anyone.”


Thursday, February 17, 2022

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Holocaust Remembrance Day ~ 2022

Gestapo

Lovers, there is so much
You can do
By just holding one another
Tenderly this evening—
Like rounded basins
Holding water in fountains
Before the soft curling fall
From one basin to the other.

They are bounding
Up the stairs now,
Clamoring they enter.
Stand facing them.

A nod toward the door.
Grab them, herd them down
To the street,
Hurl them against the wall.
Two shots fired.
Jew, left printed on the wall
Where they fell.

Friday, January 21, 2022

Pope Benedict XVI ~

He thought that Holy Mother the Church was more important than the victims who were abused in it.

Saturday, January 15, 2022

Follow the Leader ~

Getty Images

They told us to look at Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch not wearing a mask, while all the other Justices are wearing theirs. 

Thursday, January 06, 2022

Sunday, December 19, 2021