[Note: In the heady days of glasnost and perestroika, around 1989, I was once asked to shepherd a couple of Russian visitors to northern Virginia for a day. Worn out from long bouts of sightseeing in nearby Washington, they mostly wanted to relax; I could handle that.
[Maybe not. The plan just flew into a few, er, headwinds. Or more like a bunch of buzz saws. But don’t relax. Such “whatever-you-talk-about-DON’T-talk-about-guns” ideas can be stickier than superglue.] Washington Post: A lot, said its ethics board, nine of whose members resigned over the idea. ‘You cannot address these horrific national tragedies … by … Continue reading The “Taserdrone”: Coming to a School Near Your Kids? (Or Grandkids?)
AP News: UN Says Ukraine facing sexual violence and trafficking crisis BY EDITH M. LEDERER — June 6, 2022 UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Sexual violence in Ukraine, especially against women and girls, remains prevalent and underreported, and the humanitarian crisis in the war–torn country is turning into “a human trafficking crisis,” the U.N. special … Continue reading Double Wartime Crises for Ukraine: Rape & Blocked Food Exports
[NOTE: This review does not mention that amid the spreading devastation of the English Civil War, which in 1649 led to the execution of the defeated Charles I, a new radical religious group, derisively called Quakers, was coming into being. The earliest Friends were at least in sympathy with Cromwell’s anti-monarchical “Commonwealth,” and not a … Continue reading Quakerism was born in a terrible civil war. Could it survive another one?
Okay, pop quiz: Why is THIS the most memorable photo from the Big Royal Platinum bash in London? Can you see it? Most people, especially Brits (I expect) will see prime minister and convicted flagrant Coronavirus scofflaw Boris J, with wife Carrie, arriving for one of the many platinum photo ops — and recall that … Continue reading Best Photo from the Queen’s Big Shindig Is a Picture-Within-the-Picture