America admires Taras Bulba

 America admires Taras Bulba

fiction

edward w pritchard

Ask to pick a side in the Russian/Ukrainian situation currently in the news a prominent Wall street spokesmen tongue in cheek replied " America admires Taras  Bulba". Later in the business day a literature

professor from Columbia University explained the meaning of the remark by reciting a brief history of the Russian author Gogol's  novel concerning historical Cossack warriors from both countries.

The Dow was up substantially on the remark. 

A pentagon spokesman joining in the spirit of the debate suggested America would send Paul Bunyan and babe the blue Ox to help the Russians and Mike Fink the river boat captain to assist the Ukrainians.  

 

i for one am one american who admires the Russians

 I for one am one american who admires the Russians

fiction

edward w pritchard

It's hard for me to imagine America fighting the Russians. My daughter in law is Russian, As an avid reader 

i feel the best novels were wrote by Russian authors and I always wanted to go the the museum in St Petersburg to see the great art. 

Let's not start a war with Russia.

anything goes part 2

 anything goes part 2

fiction

edward w pritchard

In my last post I asked three world leaders to not start a war over the Ukraine.

Today however I see that America's ally in adverting the war is Germany and our enemy is Russia, how things have changed since world war two when Russia was America's temporarily  stanch friend and Germany our hated enemy. If I recall many Ukrainian's volunteers did not have clean hands in WW2 over their actions toward the Jews.  

War's we all understand they shouldn't be but still they happen because  intelligent  persons are doing their duty to their countries. 

anna mae wong and the american anti miscegenation laws

 anna mae wong and the american miscegenation laws

fiction

edward w pritchard

If only there were no anti miscegnation laws back then in Hollywood Anna Wong could have become a leading lady and Chinese women rather than Black ladies would be shown in commercials now with a white husband buying an expensive new car or sitting in the kitchen of a 2 million dollar house about to prepare a wholesome supper for their 2.2 children and then help them with their homework. 

Putin; will you victories make you happy

 Putin; will your victories make you happy

fiction

edward w pritchard

You honor Mr. Putin will your victories make you happy? Or like the great Warrior of old Asoka will you mourn for the suffering of the victors and vanquished in the Ukraine. Better to not start another War. Work instead on your enlightenment. 

Chinese premier Xi Jinging avoid foreign entanglements. Stay out of squabbles half a world away. 

President Biden avoid the war in Ukraine. Take your dogs for a walk instead. 

World leaders as Aristotle said "the natural state of things is rest. Don't start a war in the Ukraine. 

glib author makes a retraction on global warming

 glib author makes a retraction on global warming

fiction

edward w pritchard

Glib author makes a retraction on global warming.  Forgive me for making light on the subject of global warming as author suggests in the previous writing on " the little ice age" by Brian Fagan.

Upon further reading in Fagan's book in chapter 6 " the specter of hunger" I find that Fagan had more than scientific curiousity on the issue of starvation among humans living in times pre- three meals a day eating habits among modern Americans. 

Fagan states he spent time observing subsistence agriculture in modern Africa. Where he learned to appreciate "... how devastating  a cycle of drought or heavy rainfall or unusual cold or warmth can be. "[ among people dependent on subsistent farming [ or hunting] my paraphrasing.

How often do I preach to my grand kids who are vegans in a wealthy household not to waste food. 

My credentials to preach was dictated in my childhood. For a variety of family specific issues our family had once meal per day of prepared food from our parents. The one meal consisted of one large pot of spaghetti, Spanish rice with hamburger, or Mac and cheese. You could eat all you wanted but that was it for the day. There was little other food in the refrigerator or shelves. Eat it or fend for yourself regardless of your age or situation. 

Later as a boy scout I recall when we camped in tents at a Klondike derby event when it was ten below zero.  Because of extreme weather there was not enough brought food to fortify us boys after pulling a Alaskan  style dog sled sans dogs for ten or so hours in the cold, After a couple days of starvation we broke the rules and  convinced an older eagle scout to drive to a store and buy us $20. of junk food [ in 1964 dollars]. 

Hiking fifteen years ago on the Appalachian trail was the other time I didn't get enough food to keep me going when I was sleeping each night on the trail platform open air shelters and preparing what food i had in my back pack over a small camp fire. Tired and hungry one develops a calorie deficit. Eventually I took to sleeping in the car after driving to the nearest town for a restaurant meal. Later  along with the restaurant I took to sleeping in a cheap hotel after my ten to fifteen mile walk through the woods. It's difficult to be hungry and cold no matter the reason. 

For those who will proceed me please take global warming seriously. I believe we have a bit of folk knowledge of our ancestors cold hungry and starving.    

anything goes; endless stock market channel

 anything goes; endless stock market channel

fiction

edward w pritchard

Never have I viewed the Broadway musical of "Anything goes". The plot is simple; a pretty boy assumes an alias becomes a stowaway on a European bound ocean line in 1935, courts and marries an heiress  and every one lives happily thereafter as there were no sneaky Nazi U boat plot device sinking's staged in the original plot.  Cole Porter's song "anything goes" is the highlight of the play and Sutton Foster does the best modern version of the  extended song and dance number although Ella Fitzgerald 's musical recording of " anything goes is memorable. ''  

"Anything goes" re-staged today would have to contain a verse about the stock market channel endlessly touting the genius of sneaky billionaires inventing imaginary meta verses and martian colonies, highly paid football coaches suing the NFL owners who made them rich, and major league baseball players demanding each year more and more money for playing in fewer and fewer games. 

" Times have changed" "anything goes".

global warming at the end of your life

 global warming at the end of your life

fiction

edward w pritchard

As a teenager among many other dreams once I thought to be a weather person forecasting climate changes. 

I spent a year in high school in a ROTC class toward that end [ one hour a day] where I learned to march, learned I was officer material,  and decided I did not want to fight in the VietNam war. 

Jump forward fifty two years and I decided to read a little on global warming. Keep in mind I read a little of about fifteen books a week and often throw them away, donate them to catholic charity [ sneak into a church and leave a book on the shelf where churchgoers pick up programs for Sunday services] or try to give them away for somebodies need to know something whether they want to or not. 

This week I found a book by Brian Fagan on " the little ice age". It's a good first read on a very general over view of climate change and history. I paid 40 cents for a nearly new copy at the bins at the goodwill so it was a good value. 

Climate change won't matter much to me soon but I do like to understand the big issues of our times. I assume you don't have an advanced degree in climate-tology but " the little ice age 1300 to 1850" is a good place to get a few ideas on the topic. As for myself about the most important thing so far I have learned from Fagan's book is westerly winds and westerly currents flow in opposite directions. [ on the ocean that is].