Jim’s Bell

    We didn’t realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun. – Winnie the Pooh     As kids growing up on the south side of our fair city of Kenosha, Wisconsin we enjoyed the company of many other kids in our neighborhood. The post WWII baby boom was in […]

France Absorbs Vietnam

    Colonialism. The enforced spread of the rule of reason. But who is going to spread it among the colonizers? ∼ Anthony Burgess     French Indochina in the 1940’s.   The root cause of the American War in Vietnam can be traced back to the colonization of Vietnam by France. By 1890 the […]

Das Boat

  A boat is a hole in the water you pour money into. ∼Author unknown     I sold our travel trailer this summer. It had been on a seasonal site at a campground in Central Wisconsin for the past several years. Prior to that we had a mobile home on Lake Puckaway, not too […]

Bill & Gus

  When the world is so complicated, the simple gift of friendship is within all of our hands. ∼ Maria Shriver       In our little corner of the world, we’ve often shopped at our local Farm & Fleet. (Blaine’s Farm & Fleet, to be exact).   Though traditionally catering to local farmers, over […]

The Bait Shop

  It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes; it’s dark and we’re wearing sunglasses. —Elwood Blues, “The Blues Brothers” (1980)       A recent discussion on an outdoor forum, centered around restaurants in downtown Chicago. Having visited Chicago many times for business, family visits […]

Henry Kissinger; Nixon’s Point Man

  Do not confuse covert action with missionary work. ∼ Henry Kissinger   If you look into Richard Nixon’s role in the Vietnam War, you will also uncover a lot of information on the dour-faced Henry Kissinger who was Nixon’s confidant and trusted assistant regarding management of the war in Southeast Asia. Because of Kissinger’s […]

Ho Chi Minh, in Five Acts

  A poet must learn to wage war. ∼Ho Chi Minh   Ho Chi Minh (May 19, 1890 – Sept 2, 1969) was a Vietnamese national, and the enigmatic, well-traveled leader of various political organizations in the early twentieth century, and the leader of communist Vietnam from 1945 until his death in 1969. As his […]

LBJ Sells His War

  If you’re a politician and you can’t tell when you walk into a room who’s for you and who’s against you, then you’re in the wrong line of work. ∼Lyndon B Johnson   Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) was known as a masterful, and at times brutal politician. As he took ownership of the Vietnam […]