Tag Archives: Communism

Stalin, the NYT and the Holodomor

Posted on July 25, 2020 by

Governments are not moral. Organizations of any kind are not moral entities. They exist as a group of like-minded people coming together to advance their vision. Perhaps it’s a company, seeking to provide a service, increase sales and lead to … Continue reading →

Posted in International Affairs, Movie Review, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

We Too, Like You, Were People…

Posted on April 7, 2020 by

Yerevan in the summer is like a ‘poor man’s Paris’, or maybe Paris in the 50s, after the war had ravaged the economy and the country was recovering from German occupation but there was renewed hope and the nostalgia of … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Literature, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Stories For Which One Could Die

Posted on March 19, 2020 by

Great talent rarely appears alone, silent on a hill or sitting solitary in an ancient monastery contemplating life and god and that which has come before. Gifts grow in a specially cultivated ecosystem prepared and set into which the seeds … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

A Funny Anecdote…

Posted on March 11, 2020 by

About eight years ago, when I was a Fellow in Human Freedom at the George W. Bush Institute doing research, writing and speaking about the ongoing threats to democracy coming from Cuba and Venezuela’s “Bolivarian Alliance”, I was invited to … Continue reading →

Posted in America, International Affairs, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Day The Music Died (but only for a few…)

Posted on March 11, 2020 by

I have started this piece a dozen times, each time drawing my cursor back up to the top highlighting and deleting in order to start anew. Because how does one express relief, and not sound naïve? In our cynical world, … Continue reading →

Posted in America, Liberty, philosophy, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Environmentalism is for the wealthy…

Posted on February 22, 2020 by

The morning after the Friday terrorist attacks in Bamako, Mali I took my son to the little zoo for the last time. It was not bittersweet, only bitter; I knew everything was about to change – for myself and my … Continue reading →

Posted in America, Liberty, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

To Whom Do You Compare Yourself?

Posted on February 16, 2020 by

Do you ever ponder, you who rage in self-pity, against whom your measuring rod is fixed? When I was in Africa, one of the many times, I had a driver for my wife and my family. We had only one … Continue reading →

Posted in America, Liberty, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

On Fate and Writing

Posted on January 26, 2020 by

I once wandered Paris in the spring. It was chill and I was alone, the drizzle fell upon me as I walked along the Seine from Rue de Mars and on toward where the Notre Dame stood. I walked in … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

“Ordeal: The Sisters” – Book One

Posted on November 24, 2019 by

“I stood here in the crowd a short time ago, and listened,” said Roshchin through his teeth. “Fire and brimstone descends from this balcony and the crowd mops it up. I don’t know any longer who are the strangers in … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Literature, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 3 Comments

The October Storm and After

Posted on October 24, 2019 by

There is something nostalgic and haunting about soviet literature. I often wonder why that is…? How did writers participating in a project as wicked as that one harness the written word to such a degree as to be able to … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Liberty, Literature, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments