August 16, 2024
Friday Open Comments
Andrew Michta, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, cites this wonderful passage from the Atlantic Convention of NATO Nations in 1962:
The Atlantic peoples have inherited a magnificent civilization whose origins include the early achievements of the Near East, the classical beauty of Greece, the juridical sagacity of Rome, the spiritual power of our religious traditions and the humanism of the Renaissance. Its latest flowering, the discoveries of modern science, allows an extraordinary mastery of the forces of nature. (…) Thanks to that civilization and to the common characteristics with which it stamps the development of peoples participating in it, the nations of the West do in fact constitute a powerful cultural and moral community.
Where has all that spirit of cultural identity and sense of historic pride gone since then? Could such a thing be stated today?
Good morning, everyone. It's pleasant here this morning. A few of the Youth are beginning to stir, but I think I'll have to go upstairs and sing. You'd think they'd learn ...
G'morning all!
Katie is off to work. A big question was whether I would drive her, so our youngest could pack her SUV (a Nissan Rogue) with his stuff to take to campus tomorrow. He has some fun outings planned today (defined as "not packing"), so he told her it was fine, don't leave the Rogue.
He's got a lot of gear to move, but relatively less clothes. Because home is 40 minutes away, he can come pick up anything he needs, or he can have me load it in my car and bring it to campus. So he's pretty relaxed about it all.
Katie has the "baby bird leaving the nest blues". She's not crying, but she was trying to help him pack; not because that is fun, but to have some time with him.