Entries by dickbernard

Five Years Ago Jan. 6, 2021

Today is the 5th anniversary of the riot at the Capitol of the United States of America. Today the Minnesota Star Tribune indicates that Minnesota is likely to be the reprise of what previously has happened in places like Chicago – federal ICE agents arriving in force. Yesterday I learned that a plaque memorializing January […]

Venezuela

UPDATE January 4, 2026:  Numerous comments today.  Within the week, I plan to revisit a powerful week in December 2003 in Haiti.  This will be a separate post.  It seems particularly relevant to today, and is my own first person retrospective – my own opinion.  In times like this, the movers of agendas do not […]

…in with the new….

My understanding is that the 250th birthday of the United States of America is July 4, 2026, in recognition of the signing of the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776.  The move toward independence began earlier.  More can be read here. On July 4, 2025 – our 249th birthday, we began our 250th year as […]

Out with the old…

December 31, 2025 We now have 345 days experience with the regime, which “we, the people” elected Nov. 5, 2024. Here, again, is the total vote in November, 2024. You know where your single vote appears above. When you had the opportunity to select your representatives, for the most part the candidate you voted for, […]

“Make do”

December 20 I went in for my haircut, still a regular event in my life, albeit thinner.  Just a haircut and beard trim, once every four weeks. This particular day I said to Pamela, “I suppose you’ve been pretty busy”.   Pam, who’s also the manager, said they were pretty busy for the holiday, but […]

“Silent Night….”

Banner at St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church, Minnetonka MN. Thank you to Nancy who took the photo, and Kathy who forwarded it on. from Nancy: I don’t know the author. It’s a banner on the wall of our church. I think it’s pretty public. from Kathy: “Christmas will always be,,as long as we stand heart to […]

The Certificate of Life

All best wishes at Christmas, and for a good New Year.  Following is a family story which, in one way or another, likely applies to all of us. Dec. 14, my brother, John, sent an e-mail with a most intriguing document: the death certificate for our grandfather Henry Bernard, died May 23, 1957 in Fargo […]

What can I do?

All very best wishes for the ending of 2025 and 2026.  We need to be personally involved in this. Some ideas follow.  More on photo at end of post; Getting in action: Thursday morning a group of about 25 of us listened to an immigration lawyer talk about the current legal situation in our area […]

Watching MTG

8:15 a.m. CST December 8, 2026: I’m time-stamping this post for a specific reason: I watched the entire Marjorie Taylor Greene interview on 60 Minutes last night, and I want to give my impressions before I see or hear any analysis from anyone else.  You can probably access the interview on-line for a short time. […]

The end of WWII

Recently someone mentioned that there seem to be an unusual number of activities related to WWII.  This year is the 80th anniversary of the surrender of Germany (May 8, 1945) and Japan (September 2, 1945).  Perhaps that is the reason. I don’t know if there are more commemorations than usual or not.  But it would […]