Shocking & Awful

These days, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi doesn’t recognize the Vladimir Putin he used to pal around with.  The two were quite the odd couple back in the early 2000s, hugging and partying each time they met.  It almost looked like Italian...

Ole Massa Lives On

I’m addicted to watching the PBS series Finding Your Roots hosted by Prof. Louis Gates Jr of Harvard.  The series is in its 8th season, and last week it explored the roots of Tony Danza. This being Black History Month I thought it appropriate to mention that...

Some Foolish Thing

The current crisis in Ukraine conjures up another Munich analogy.  Russia’s Vladimir Putin easily fits the bill as the new Hitler.  He has already seized Ukraine’s Crimea region and now wants the rest of that country, just as Hitler first took Austria in...

Above & Beyond

I often get my blog subjects from our online Almanac.  February 3rd celebrates the courage of Lt. Willibald Charles Bianchi in 1942 that earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. Some 27 Americans of Italian...

Where It All Started

It started innocently enough, but it escalated into a debate on The Godfather. A friend and I were enjoying a leisurely ride in my car listening to Sirius Radio when the 1959 song Sea of Love came on.  I quickly related it to the movie by the same name starring...