Saturday March 28, 2026.  No Kings national demonstrations.  All info here.

In case you haven’t seen it, Thomas Friedman wrote an outstanding commentary about Twin Cities actions during the ICE “surge” in early 2026.  Links are in the post I did March 15, here.   Friedman is a native of the Twin Cities.

It’s a good time to check in on voting regulations in your state.  I think this is a reliable website: Vote.gov

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We were reminded today (Mar. 20) that 23 years ago. in 2003,  the Iraq War started with “Shock and Awe” over Iraq.  Here’s one take on the subsequent 20 years.

Today is the end of the third week of Epic Fury over Iran.  The last gas fill for me before the assault began (Feb 28) was Feb. 25 – $2.999 per gallon.  The first fill after the assault – Mar. 11 – $3.599 per gallon.  Both readings are at suburban St. Paul stations I regularly use.  These will be my personal base line for the duration….

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Personally. we leave for Missouri on March 28 for the wedding of our grandson.  We will be back by March 31.  Unfortunately, this means that “No Kings” isn’t on the schedule for us.

Our grandson is an active duty Marine and has been for the last 8 years.  His assignment is aircraft maintenance state side, and to my knowledge he or his unit are not slated for transfer.  But as any military person knows, orders can change on very short notice.  His spouse is a high school teacher and grew up in a Marines family.  We are happy for them both.

Easter is April 5, so likelihood of writing here between now and then will likely be sporadic.

We are in insane times, and I suspect the insanity will increase between now and July 4, and beyond toward Election Day Nov. 3.

I visualize this time in our history as a blizzard imposed on all of us.  In a blizzard or any other disaster, the essential action is that provided by individual citizens, like you and I.  There are millions of things which can be done, not the least of which is to get out of the house and into one of the demos all over the U.S. on March 28.  The Twin Cities will be a focus, in honor of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and the courageous citizens who stood up at the time of crisis.

“EXTRA CREDIT” – My French-Canadian cousin, Remi, in Montreal, has written a fascinating piece about the French language and its variations.  I think you will find it very interesting if you have any interest in French and/or our Canadian cousins.  (Remi’s great-grandfather and mine were brothers – surname originally Colet (present day Collette).  I’m 50% French-Canadian.) Here’s the link.

COMMENTS:

from Brian: Oh wow!  Thanks so much for including the article about Canada and French–super.  I so loved reading it.   We have good friends in Quebec.