This is the fourth and last in my series of vignettes based upon my recent visit to Russia. The great Winston Churchill once said the following: In England, everything is permitted, except what is prohibited. In Germany, everything is prohibited, except what is permitted. In France, everything is allowed, even what is prohibited. In Russia, everything is prohibited, even what
Food for thought on this Independence Day: “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” – Benjamin Franklin It is for this very reason that a guarantee of free speech is written into the First Amendment to our Constitution. The reason that the right to free speech is included up front is,
The term “karma” has many meanings in the Hindu and Buddhist religions. Dictionary.com lists one of the meanings as: “bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life, or (in Hinduism) in a reincarnation”. This term, sadly, would seem to apply to a recent victim of the out of control immigration policy that has plagued the European
Today, demonstrations took place across America protesting the Trump Administration policy of separating children from adult family members who have crossed our border illegally. Good for them! Making a stand! Exercising their First Amendment’s rights to free speech and to petition the government in one fell swoop! Americans taking action to “change the system”. Something we can laud! Something we
I will surprise absolutely no one by pointing out the insincerity, hypocrisy and deceitful nature of politicians. Anyone but a simpleton will be aware that, on some level, most politicians are dishonest. Yet, with each new election cycle, people muster enthusiasm for, campaign for, donate to and vote for candidates they hope will do better and manage their towns, cities,
Who would have ever thought that in twenty first century America it would become dangerous for governmental officials to go out to dinner? Or to see a movie? Or just to go to and from work? Shocking as that may be, that day seems to be here. By now, everyone knows that White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was
Row after row of cinder block buildings. Endless arrays of dull gray apartment houses. Grim workers trudging to and from monotonous jobs in monstrous factories. Faceless bureaucrats occupying tiny cubicles in endless office buildings. Representatives of “Big Brother” lurking in the shadows. These bleak images are, more or less, what I expected to find during my visit to Russia (which
We Americans seem to have become inured to the fraud, deception and hypocrisy that have become the “new normal” in our land. But the degree of deception we seem capable of ignoring has reached new heights on our southern border. Doesn’t anybody wonder why the volume of illegal border crossings, which had been steadily going DOWN for many years, have
One of the things I most wanted to explore while in Russia, was to learn from its citizens the differences in daily life that they experienced “before and after” the fall of communism (December 25, 1991). Any citizen 25 years old or older, I felt, would likely have some impression of the changes that took place following that momentous conversion.
They’re at it again. The deep state shows, once again, how low they estimate the intelligence of the American people to be. They seem to believe that if they issue a report with an official sounding title authored by someone or some thing with an official sounding name, that Americans will believe absolutely ANYTHING they are told. And, they may