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Aide-Memoire

This Day in History

Long shadow of US invasion of Iraq

March 14, 2023 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Guardian – Iraq war: 20 years on Long shadow of US invasion of Iraq still looms over international order Brown University’s Costs of War Project estimates that the taxpayer bill for post-9/11 US wars reached $8tn, representing a profound diversion from civilian spending. About 400,000 Iraqis died. Guardian – Iraq war: 20 years on

Posted in: History, Politics, Racism, Thinking about, This Day in History Tagged: Arab Spring, Bashar al-Assad, chaos, Condoleeza Rice, David Petraeus, de-Baathification, Gaddafi, George Bush, hubris, insurgency, invasion, Iraq, Iraqis, liberal interventionism, March 20 2003, Saddam, sanctions, Shia, Sunni, Tehran, Tony Blair, unilateralism, Vladimir Putin

Fiona Hill on Putin – Politico

October 17, 2022 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Eight months into Russia’s war against Ukraine, POLITICO talks to the Russia analyst about whether Putin’s aims are evolving and what it would take to end the war.   Now, despite the setbacks Russia has suffered on the battlefield, Hill thinks Putin is undaunted. She sees him adapting to new conditions, not giving up. And … [Read more…]

Posted in: Politics, Thinking about, This Day in History Tagged: Fiona Hill, Politico, Putin, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin

Remembering Parkland

February 14, 2022 by sergneri Leave a Comment

A blog link in Politico takes us to Remembering Parkland By GARY FINEOUT 02/14/2022 GRIM ANNIVERSARY — Today also marks the fourth anniversary of a horrific moment. Seventeen people were gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Posted in: History, Obituaries, Politics, Thinking about, This Day in History Tagged: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Nikolas Cruz, Parkland

The Mystery of the ‘Russian Flu’

February 14, 2022 by sergneri Leave a Comment

An Undiscovered Coronavirus? The Mystery of the ‘Russian Flu’ Scientists are grasping for any example that could help anticipate the future of Covid, even a mysterious respiratory pandemic that spread in the late 19th century. New York Times – By Gina Kolata Feb. 14, 2022

Posted in: Faits Divers, Pandemic, Science, Thinking about, This Day in History Tagged: Coronavirus, COVID, COVID-19, flu, influenza, pandemic, Russian Flu

Lawrence Ferlinghetti is dead

February 23, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

On the New York Times: Lawrence Ferlinghetti, a poet, publisher and political iconoclast who inspired and nurtured generations of San Francisco artists and writers from City Lights, his famed bookstore, died on Monday at his home in San Francisco. He was 101.

Posted in: Faits Divers, Obituaries, Politics, Sea Stories, Thinking about, This Day in History Tagged: City Lights, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, North Beach, poet, the Beat movement

Dreaming? Last night

February 21, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Dreaming? Last night, I thought of Timothy McVeigh, I saw images of the April 19, 1995 Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building after the bombing, and I thought of Trump’s brag that “he’d not leave the political field.” Putting this together at 2 a.m. in a fog of sleep left me thinking of the WPE (Worst … [Read more…]

Posted in: Politics, Racism, Thinking about, This Day in History, Trump Tagged: Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, bloodshed, FBI, MAGA, Timothy McVeigh, Trump, violence, worst-president-ever, WPE

In the mail from TMS

February 20, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

These two cards and lovely mobile arrived in the mail today:

Posted in: Content, Faits Divers, Flying, Thinking about, This Day in History Tagged: Light Laughter, Love, Sergneri, Theresa Marie, TMS, TMS Artwork

The Trump Crew’s Incompetence Lasted to the End

February 13, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

So we never forget, as the reign of the WPE (worst-president-ever) slowly slips into the sunset, we need to remember a few things. David Frum in the Atlantic has written an excellent essay covering some of those things: The Trump Crew’s Incompetence Lasted to the End. The former president’s lawyers were bad—but that was all … [Read more…]

Posted in: Pandemic, Politics, Racism, Science, Thinking about, This Day in History, Trump Tagged: Atlantic, corruption, David Frum, Impeachment, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, John Ratcliff, Matthew Whitaker, Michael Flynn, Michael van der Veen, Richard Grenell, Scott Pruitt, Sebastian Gorka, Trump, worst-president-ever, WPE

“…the worst thing that an American president could ever do.”

January 22, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

The Atlantic’s Peter Nicholas writes in “What I Saw at the White House on Trump’s Last Day” “This is the only president in American history who incited an insurrection against Congress that could have resulted in assassinations and hostage-taking and, conceivably, the cancellation of a free presidential election and the fracturing of a democracy,” Michael … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, Politics, Thinking about, This Day in History, Trump Tagged: Donald Trump, insurrection

Before Capitol Riot, Republican Lawmakers Fanned the Flames

January 11, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

From the NYTimes: Before Capitol Riot, Republican Lawmakers Fanned the Flames A “1776 moment”: Several of the president’s closest allies in Congress used bellicose language to urge their supporters to attend the Jan. 6 rally that turned into a deadly riot. Just so we don’t forget.

Posted in: Politics, Racism, This Day in History, Trump Tagged: Ali Alexander, Andy Biggs, anti-Christian socialists, Lauren Boebert, Madison Cawthorn, MAGA, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mo Brooks, Paul Gosar, Pete Sessions, the Capitol
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