Author’s Note: This whole thing just makes my head feel like it’s about to explode….Arrias In 1942, a short while after the US landed in North Africa, several US soldiers were convicted of raping a local woman. They were tried and found guilty. The commanding general – George Patton, approved their sentence and had them […]

The reason an heroic movie, an heroic character, attracts us is simple: vicariously, we become heroes. Whatever the scenario, we place ourselves in it – Ben Hur in the galley, the homesteaders on the high plains, or perhaps Schindler saving his workers at “Emalia.” At the same time, we know we’ll never have to actually […]

I recall thinking he looked old and frail. I was 14, it was my freshman year in high school and I remember him sitting there, on one of the love seats that my mom and dad had in the den, between the dining room and the living room, in that beautiful house we lived in […]

Author’s Note: My Muse and I were reading several accounts of life in the trenches around Avdiivka – could have been the Somme or Verdun a little more than a hundred years ago… – Arrias Very Wrong The trenches are long and dark and dank, Always hot or always cold, The men climb out and […]

In an interesting development the Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Army (the Ukrainian equivalent to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) released an essay last week, just as an interview was published in The Economist. In the essay and interview it was reported that Gen Zaluzhnyi said the war was “at a […]

Author’s Note: A less passionate issue from my Muse… – Arrias Blue Circle The world is just a blue circle, Just dark blue water is what you see, Even from 30,000 feet, All there is, is sea. The ship is fixed, it doesn’t move, The ocean just flows past, But we seem to remain in […]

Author’s Note: My Muse has a burr under her saddle about things… – Arrias What Makes Sense? It doesn’t make much sense to me All that is going on, Terrorists conduct a raid On a warm, clear dawn. Raping, burning, killing, Civilians, all unarmed. More than a thousand so they say, Hundreds more badly harmed. […]

In virtually any situation, from sports to geo-politics, you can usually parse things down to one major actor and a whole bunch of reactors. There may also be spectators, but usually they’re reacting as well. For the US, as the world’s preeminent great power, maintaining some level of stability requires that we stay in front […]

Author’s Note: I know this is impossible, but it really needs to be said… While the Israelis pursue their plan to sweep through Gaza, the question that bugs me is this: what is the long term solution to the Gaza Strip? As I see it, there are four major paths forward for Gaza – in […]

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Just needed to say this… – ARRIAS A good man passed away the other day… I’ll call him Mr. Smith. He deserves, as much as is possible, given his career, a note on his passing. You don’t know him, and in all likelihood you never will. He worked for one of those organizations […]