Category Society
Remembrance Day 2018
One hundred years ago today the guns fell silent. Back then they called it “The War To End All Wars.” It wasn’t. Now it is a name and number: World War One. Millions more would die in armed conflict over the next hundred years and continue to die today in smaller conflicts around the globe. […]
Playing The Last Post
With the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War coming up this Sunday, I thought I would revisit some older posts related to that conflict. This one was published on November 10, 2014. It has been four years – tonight is actually the 31,220th time the ceremony has taken place. Tonight […]
He Was Only 15
With the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War coming up this Sunday, I thought I would revisit some older posts related to that conflict. This one was published on November 12, 2014. When we visited the Commonwealth Military Cemetery at Essex Farm, near Ypres, Belgium, our guide pointed out the grave […]
Revisiting The Trenches of Passchendaele
With the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War coming up this Sunday, I thought I would revisit some older posts related to that conflict. This one was published four years ago today – November 8, 2014. The years between 1914 and 1918 were the wettest Europe experienced during the 20th century, […]
A Forgotten War?
I remember it as a one liner in history class, probably early in high school. France and Germany fought a war, 1870-71. I don’t remember who won (Germany I presume – that was the Bismarck era) or what the cause was. I think at the end Alsace became German, or returned to being German. As […]
Voting Day
If you are an American, get out and vote today. It is important to exercise your franchise. Democracy is only strong when people participate. I doubt if today’s vote in the US is as important as some people are making it. There has been a fair amount of hysteria online about this election, more than […]
What Are We Afraid Of?
I’m feeling indecisive this morning; can’t decide what today’s post should be. So I’ve decided to share this one again, originally posted in November 2014. I have mentioned that it is my custom to attend church on Sunday wherever I may find myself, which explains why I was at St. Edmund’s Church in the British […]
Oktoberfest?
The month is over and for the second year in a row I failed to take part in any Oktoberfest activities. Soon they’ll be revoking my honorary German status. The closest I came was last week in Munich, which, as everyone knows is the spiritual centre of Oktoberfest. Well, I wasn’t actually in the city, […]
No Partridge…
…but I did find a pear tree. Yesterday was a beautiful day, so I took a mid-afternoon break fro a walk through the vineyards at the edge of town, choosing to go west instead of my usual east. (East is closer and less hilly.) I had heard that it was zero Celsius back in Canada, […]
Notes From My Spam Folder
I try not to look too often in my email spam folder, the “junk” mail filtered out by my service provider. It usually is junk, though occasionally some of the mailings I subscribe to wind up there. I just checked it for the first time in a few weeks and discovered I have been missing […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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