Tag Archives: Russia

War

Posted on June 17, 2025 by smellincoffee

War  takes us into the Biden White House and its foreign policy challenges.    Biden had no shortage of  heavy issues coming into office amid a pandemic,  but the changing global scene would create far more.   Woodward’s narrative sews … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, World Affairs | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Red Metal

Posted on May 15, 2025 by smellincoffee

Something wicked this way comes. In Taiwan, the pro-China candidate has been assassinated, ostensibly by militants who want to protect the current anti-China candidate from not being reelected. China is threatening war and loading troopships as a reprisal. The Russians … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Short rounds: politics!

Posted on February 26, 2025 by smellincoffee

As mentioned yesterday I’m feeling burnt out between all the serious stuff I’ve been binging, global affairs, and ongoing drama with my computer (it was finally repaired and sent back from the manufacturer, but arrived in such a state that … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, World Affairs | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bloodlands

Posted on February 7, 2025 by smellincoffee

On a scale of 1 to 10, how demoralized, depressed, and soul-dead do you want to be? Ten? Well, have I got a book for you! Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin examines the grim fate of Eastern Europe from … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Time to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

Posted on August 24, 2024 by smellincoffee

Nearly eighty years ago, a single B-29 bomber flew over the Japanese city of Hiroshima and dropped a single bomb, baptizing humanity into a dark new era once the blinding white glow had ended. In the fifties and sixties, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, World Affairs | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Sunlight at Midnight: St Petersburg and the Rise of Modern Russia

Posted on August 22, 2024 by smellincoffee

I must confess to not knowing much at all about Russian cities: say Moscow, and I think of the Kremlin and the subway art; say St. Petersburg, and I have some hazy idea that it was built in the model … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

American Phoenix: John Quincy Adams

Posted on July 10, 2024 by smellincoffee

John Quincy Adams was the eldest son of John Adams, who followed the elder’s irascible devotion to principle and found himself an exile for it — after his support for a general embargo against European powers for continuing to harass … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Night Witches

Posted on August 11, 2023 by smellincoffee

The German army has invaded deep into Mother Russia, and Stalingrad itself is a battlefield. Young Valentina desperately wants to use her flying skills to defend her city, joining her sister Tatiana in the skies, but her mother forbids her. … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Surviving Five Perilous Months Aboard Mir

Posted on August 8, 2023 by smellincoffee

When Jerry Linenger first boarded the Space Station Mir for a five-month stint working with Russia’s finest, the master alarm was blaring. It was a sign of things to come. The aging space station had been continually modified and jury-rigged … Continue reading →

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Books books books

Posted on October 14, 2021 by smellincoffee

Between the nonfunctional hospital wifi and the only decent television programs being overtaken by baseball, most of my entertainment last week was good ol’ fashioned books. Midnight at Chernobyl popped onto my radar after I watched the excellent HBO series … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments