Author Archives: oliverakel

There is good news and bad news. The Ukrainians are proving tenacious, brave and effective in resisting the Russian military onslaught. On the other hand, tremendous damage is being done to the country and to the people. Cities are being decimated, innocents are being killed and a serious refugee dilemma is being foisted on Europe.Continue reading “On Putin and Ukraine II”

As incredible as it seems, for the first time in 77 years a bloody war is raging in Europe. Few people (including me) really believed that Putin was serious about invading Ukraine. It made no sense for him or anyone else. For many (including me) it was a bold bluff to extract a few concessionsContinue reading “On Putin and Ukraine”

John McCain once said that Russia is an old gas station masquerading as a country. It’s interesting to look at the relationship between Crude oil prices and Putin’s aggressive adventures. Over the last 10 years the crude oil price has averaged about $ 65 per barrel. But look at  this: Sep 2008:   Russian-Georgian war           Oil Price $148Continue reading “On Putin and Energy”

The Supreme Court was established in 1789 as the third branch of government, in part to provide a third leg in the need for “checks and balances” against government overreach. But to me its primary role is to protect the rights of all, and I mean all, citizens of America. They are not there toContinue reading “On Scotus”

Winston Churchill once described the Soviet Union as a riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Maybe that is still an apt description of Putin – – and then maybe not. To me Putin’s actions, especially now, are quite understandable. I’m not saying justified, but surely understandable. The Soviet Union fracture in 1991 wasContinue reading “On Putin”

I hope for the day when every national issue will be looked upon, not as a Republican or Democratic issue, but as an American issue to be evaluated and judged on its own merits. The 2020 election was no doubt controversial to many. For sure there were irregularities, as there always are in virtually everyContinue reading “On January 6th”

I tried to find the antonym for the word service, i.e. the opposite of something we call service. I couldn’t find one. Maybe it’s ‘helplessness’ or ‘disappointment’. Whatever it is we should have a better word for it because non-service, the lack or total absence of service, is rampant everywhere. How many hours do we spendContinue reading “On Service”

We still hear a lot these days about American exceptionalism. For sure, for a long time we were, indeed, an exceptional people in an exceptional country. We accomplished so much for so long and in so many fields. We fought for our independence and won. We fought for our unity and won. We fought forContinue reading “On American Exceptionalism”

Never did I ever think I would say this, but – – –  I’m embarrassed for our military. I’m embarrassed for our country. I’m embarrassed for all our elected and appointed officials who, for so long, have displayed such ineptitude. I’m embarrassed for the men and women who fought and died with the mistaken beliefContinue reading “On Embarrassment”

In December 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to prop up a Marxist regime which had taken power the year before.  Over nine years later, having spent over $200 billion, and suffered 15,000 troop fatalities, 35,000 wounded, having incurred substantial material losses, and having killed between 600,000 and 2 million Afghanis, they exited the country, leavingContinue reading “On Afghanistan”