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Shame on us

In 1944, eighty years ago, U.S. troops were fighting fascism in Italy, France, and all across the Pacific.  Over 3,000 Americans died in the Battle of the Leyte Gulf alone, as kamikaze planes dove into naval vessels.  The invasion of Normandy and ensuing battles cost 29,000 American lives, with over 54,000 wounded or missing.  60,000 …

Talkin’ bout my generation

I woke up this morning, too early, trying to understand why that hate-filled demagogue, Donald J. Trump, remains a thorn in our side.  His minions in the GOP, and there’s really nothing else you can call them, are holding Ukraine aid hostage while they exacerbate crises on the Mexican border with deadly barriers and hope …

Songs of Hope

As retirement looms, close enough now to start thinking seriously about what the next chapter might look like, I’ve picked up a few new things to do.  This blog is one of them:  I’ve got some things on my mind, enough writing ability to have them make sense, at least to me, and a perilous …

An inflection point in history

There is an old truism that one shouldn’t approach a wounded animal, as that is when it is most dangerous.  It will flail out, clawing and biting at anything within it’s reach.   There are some severely wounded animals on the world stage at the moment, including the Republican Party, the Iran theocracy and Vladimir Putin.  …

Thank you, Ohio

Last summer, I visited my old hometown of Parma, Ohio, for my 50th high school reunion.  I reconnected with some old friends, went to dinner with my cousins in a surprisingly lively downtown Cleveland, and took the opportunity to look around a bit.  Much of Parma seems preserved in amber from 1974, when I left.  …

Pochapy again

I occasionally like to Google my last name, to see if anything scurrilous or interesting shows up.  (Hint: if you teach for a living, unless you are in a particularly masochistic mood, don’t look at ratemyprofessors.com).  The other day, for a change of pace I clicked on the “Images” icon at the top of the …