David Rothkoff, host of my favorite podcast, Deep State Radio, but in real life an accomplished professor of international relations, coined the phrase recently, we are “Present at the Destruction”. This comment was a riff after the 1969 Dean Acheson’s book about his years at the State Department was published, detailing the prewar and post … More Present at the Destruction
It is Memorial Day weekend here in the United States, is the official start of summer. The holiday resembles little in the way of the British Remembrance Day, held there each November 11th. The English have no car sales to mark the event, no barbecues, no catching up on yard work. It is instead a … More War and Remembrance 2018
Where the grass lands roll in stretches like an endless tossing sea, To the mountains white and hoary, over ranges wide and free, Where the country lies unbroken, and the soft prairie breezes blow, It is there my heart turns fondly and the siren bids me go. It is far from cares and worries … More The Call From the West
War in the Western Pacific is in the air this summer, so I thought it might be a good time to file a few notes about the fight we had with the Japanese in the Philippines in 1944-45. Central to this podcast is the interview with my father in law, Ernesto F. “Papi” Martinez who … More The Sack of Manila, 1945
What is it about Everett, anyway? People are born here, live out their lives here and die here, never leaving, never seeing a reason to leave. This audio is about a lovely Friday evening in Everett, and commentary about the town and what we do here in the summer then segues into a commentary about … More What is it about Everett, anyway?
Mr. Trump could learn a few things from his predecessor, Richard Nixon. This weekend the New York Times is reporting on President Trump’s financial disclosure made Friday. The report shows holdings with foreign countries and what appears to this lawyer to be a conflict of interest at best and a foreign emolument at worst. Wading … More Richard M. Nixon on Financial Transparency of Public Servants
As a child we played “war” a lot. And why wouldn’t we? It was on television and in movie theaters. I was also given books about World War II. Somehow the Battle of Britain managed to be among the most talked about event. Perhaps it is our closeness to our mother country that brought their experience … More The Supermarine Spitfire: To Be, Or Not to Be?
