How Ukraine Gave the World “Carol of the Bells”
A choir begins with a short, repeating phrase. More voices join, the music builds, and…
How Ukraine Gave the World “Carol of the Bells”
A choir begins with a short, repeating phrase. More voices join, the music builds, and the singers seem to answer one another like bells. This is “Carol of the Bells,” heard at Christmas concerts, in advertisements, and in the film “Home Alone.” The familiar English words celebrate Christmas. The music comes from a Ukrainian song…
The Kyiv Independent: One of Journalism’s Last Bastions
https://kyivindependent.com As many of my readers will be aware, I’ve been writing about Ukraine on social media since 2013. I’ve spent a good deal of time there, both professionally and personally. It’s a beautiful country, and I have a real soft spot for the people and the culture. I often describe Ukrainians as ‘Midwest-nice.’ If…
Ukraine’s Culture Cannot Wait for Peace.
Just listen to “Carol of the Bells” this Christmas, and you’re hearing Ukraine. The tune is based on Mykola Leontovych’s “Shchedryk,” which is a choral setting of a Ukrainian folk song. Leontovych was murdered by a Soviet secret police agent in 1921. His music became known to people who may never have heard of him…
Social Media has Failed, it is Time to Change it.
Social media has been around for twenty years, but it has not lived up to its promises. It may be time to consider making access to it an adult privilege. I chose to share this on LinkedIn for a reason. LinkedIn started around the same time as Facebook, and Twitter followed soon after. Each platform…
America Pass: A Smarter Way to Rethink Tariffs, Trade, and Global Leverage
“Free trade is a good thing, when it’s fair. Unfair trade cheaters must pay a price.” -Peter Navarro What if we stopped pretending that global trade was some…
Thirty-Four Minutes on a Dating Site Was All It Took to Break My Heart
I’m just a typical guy. I’m 63, single, no kids, straight, and I’ve always loved women. I have been cheated on and lied to, just like everyone has. I try to treat people kindly, with respect. I’ve never cheated, never lied to someone I was with, and at this stage in life, I’m not chasing…
Trump Said Something at the G7 That Liberals Shouldn’t Ignore, And I’m a JFK Democrat Saying That
Trump Said Something at the G7 That Liberals Shouldn’t Ignore, And I’m a JFK Democrat Saying That Let me start with this: I’m a JFK Democrat. That used to mean something. It meant you believed in a strong America, a free press, civil liberties, fiscal sanity, and diplomacy backed by strength. It meant you could…
Sometimes, it takes war to achieve Peace.
“You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.” -Winston Churchill Let me say the thing the world doesn’t want to admit, but desperately needs to hear: Sometimes it takes war to have peace. That may offend the comfort of Western…
The Shape of the Movie Industry: What the Next 500 Films Tell Us About Where Cinema Is Headed
There is no single breaking point. No seismic event. No memo from the mountaintop. But if you’ve been watching long enough, and from the right vantage, you start to see the change. Not as disruption, not as collapse, but as a series of quiet recalibrations that, together, amount to a full reordering of the film…
The Rain Didn’t Stop. Neither Did the Pressure on Farmers.
I just finished watching Clarkson’s Farm Season 4, and wow, it made me think. Congratulations to the entire crew. Well done, all. It’s easy to be entertained by Jeremy Clarkson as he barrels across muddy fields or argues with Caleb about cows and piglets. But this season, something changed. The weather turned. The laughter slowed….
