occasional posts by risa aratyr
A NOTE ON THIS POST – I wrote this the day the U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting on Russia and Ukraine. Didn’t seem the right time to publish it. In the ensuing weeks, R&U tensions escalated, the “Freedom Convoy” cemented its occupation of Ottawa, ‘Liz tested positive, ‘Murica passed 900,000 COVID deaths, and … Read more Unresolved
This is not the post I intended to write. A couple of days ago, when the blogging urge hit me, I intended to de-wire my overloaded brain by splashing serious thoughts on a serious topic all over this page. Then my sis dropped off Sadie. In her time on this planet, my sister Liane has … Read more Winter Wonderland
Fine. Since the tea is not forthcoming, let’s have a philosophical conversation. — Anton Chekhov, The Three Sisters I miss hunting for just the right word. I miss hammering ornery sentences into shape. Solving tricky paragraph jigsaw puzzles. Riding the furious wave of a self-righteous rant, pontificating from a rickety soapbox, waxing poetic at the … Read more Once More Unto the Breach
Ironically, it was the authors of The Federalist Papers — a treatise on the dangers of political factions — who jump-started our two-party system. While 1st Prez George W. doubtless appreciated hearing disparate opinions from his closest advisors, as James Monroe’s and Alexander Hamilton’s views became more polarized, it created the very factions they abhorred. … Read more The Cold Civil War – Part II: THE GREAT DIVIDE
The classic GOP response to removing statues of Confederate leaders or re-christening military bases named for Confederate officers is an exasperated, “What next? Scratch Ben Franklin off the $100 bill? Burn the Declaration of Independence?” Their untenable point being, the Founding Fathers owned slaves; therefore, removing statues or re-naming bases is tantamount to demanding the … Read more The Cold Civil War – Part I: ANTEBELLUM