Tuesday, October 17, 2017

International this and that




Look what arrived in the mail the other day—my MacBain plaid lap blanket. This is not touristy Scottish stuff—it’s an authentic woolen blanket from Scotland with the clan plaid accurately depicted. It’s soft, warm, and wonderful, and I’m most proud of it.

I’m joking with this international title to this post, but I was laughing at my day in recent days. One day I ate lunch at P. F. Chang’s—crispy green beans with an addictive dipping sauce—and for supper I had barbecue. The next day, for lunch, I had leftover barbecue and crispy (not so crispy by then) green beans. For dinner that night? Chicken with an Italian sauce/mozzarella topping. Last night it was tacos with pineapple/poblano salsa, and today at lunch—braseola (the beef version of prosciutto) which surely counts as Italian.

I read recently a serious—and disturbing—article about how the U.S. international reputation is cratering, because our country has been pulled out of so many treaties and trade alliances by the governing people still in power. Just want to point out that I’m doing my part for multi-culturalism with my diet.

Our reputation as leader of the free world is not something to joke about, and I sometimes fear we’ve already lost the title, perhaps to Germany with Angela Merkel as such a strong head of state. It’s a subject John McCain addressed head-on in his acceptance speech for the Liberty Medal, conferred by the bipartisan National Constitution Center. If you haven’t heard his forthright talk about “spurious nationalism,” listen to it here: https://www.yahoo.com/news/john-mccain-slams-apos-half-091149075.html It’s well worth hearing and will, I hope, make you think.


















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