Columns

When the Russians began their invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian composer Adrian Mocanu heard the wailing warning of the air-raid sirens and said, “I thought the sirens sounded like giant wolves howling.” Well, metaphorically as it turns out, he wasn’t too far off in painting a picture of what was to come.

I had a discouraging day yesterday.

Remember when you were a kid and the more dangerous something was the more fun it became? Isn’t that why we climbed trees or balanced on a fence post or rode our bikes really fast down hills?

There is a scandal at the heart of the Christian faith. This scandal makes it hard for people to believe in the person of Jesus and in the words of Jesus. The scandal is not some kind of hidden moral failing in a leader of a movement that has just come to light. It is out there in public view and is talked about from Christian pulpits regularly. The scandal is this: Christians believe that the Messiah, the Son of God, died a shame-filled death inflicted on him by his own Jewish leaders through the enforcement of Roman law. In a word, the scandal is about the cross on which Jesus suffered death.

One of the lead front-page stories, second section, in the redoubtable Wall Street Journal this past weekend was all about how much is too much jewelry to wear to your private yoga lessons in New York City; really, there is a competition for who’s the most bejeweled. But the question was, when does it start to get in the way of “downward dog?”

“I like your hair!” a woman at the party said.

Editor’s note — The author originally posted this column on Feb. 9, 2014.

This time we’ll talk about local add-on storage. Why, with all the cloud alternatives? Read on and we’ll discuss why or why not and some options.

I asked my wife last year what she wanted to do to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. I was not expecting the word that came out of her mouth immediately.

Alexi Navalny was a once-in-a-lifetime example of what John F. Kennedy once called “Profiles in Courage.” That such villainy and treachery caused his killing are the reasons we must recognize and honor this man’s willful courage and stoic fearlessness. Alexi Navalny is gone and Mother Russia has endured another blow to her attempts to join Lady Liberty as a paean to freedom and democratic ideals.