Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Before retreating from the city of Kherson, Russian troops not only buried land mines but also set up tripwires and other surprise explosives. This is the form of Russian terror Ukrainians will have to counter for years to come. Paying tribute to those who were killed on a de-mining mission, President Zelenskyy said, "Terrorists deliberately try to leave behind as many death traps as possible. There is no anti-mine system that can destroy even part of the threat; the mines are even more cruel and meaner than a missile."

Pope Francis broke down during an address in Rome about the Ukraine War victims; he wept as he prayed, pleading for peace in Ukraine.

As the Russian military's list of failures grows, Putin persists, saying the war in Ukraine could be a 'long process'.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"One doesn't have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and understanding are sufficient. In fact, a man (woman) convinced of his virtue even in the midst of his vice is the worst kind of man (woman). There is no wrong time to do the right thing."        
-- Charles Blow, NYTimes Op Ed columnist

If we support, even silently, those who are OK with racial bigotry and anti-Semitism we are part of the problem. We must stand firmly and unequivocally against the hatred. Righting wrongs requires a deep desire to make it happen. Truth must be told. There's no way we live without bothering others' sensibilities. There is a cost for silence just as there is a cost for making our voices heard.

"To thine own self be true." -- Shakespeare

May Abraham Lincoln's "chorus of the Union, when again touched...by the better angels of our nature" let us live large and err on the side of love and acceptance.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"It's an universal law -- intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education. An ill-educated person behaves with arrogant impatience, whereas truly profound education breeds humility."

-- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"Putin is using winter as a weapon of war against Ukraine."        
Though Putin would have Ukraine grovel in darkness,  
President Zelenskyy and Ukraine are a beacon to the world.      
I am humbled by their determination and courage.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

               "Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness."

               -- Anne Frank

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Christmas carols are part of my life... not 'til tonight on Christmas eve did I learn that 'Carol of the Bells' is a Ukrainian carol. One hundred years ago the Ukrainian National Chorus performed the carol at Carnegie Hall as part of a cultural diplomacy mission. 'Carol of the Bells' has been recorded into over 150 versions and re-arrangements for varying vocal and instrumental compositions. 

Tomorrow is Christmas Day and the Eighth Night of Hannukah. People the world 'round are celebrating Light.

All best wishes to you my classmates, and prayers for Ukraine.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Will there be a good time to play football again?

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"EVERYONE WANTS TO SAVE THE WORLD, BUT NO ONE WANTS TO HELP MOM DO THE DISHES."

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

The eyes of the world are on the U.S. House.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Be well,

there is so much sickness out there.

Marvin Irving Blusteln

Still lurking.  Janis have you thought about writing a book?

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Thanks for lurking, Marv.        
Were I to write a book, I hope you would read it.      
In the meantime, the Message Forum is a wonderful outlet (available to all of us) to reach out to our classmates. My continuing wish is that some of you lurkers would add your voices and create a medley.          
I highly recommend posting to all; it's one small way to touch the future...

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Let us celebrate that for the sixth straight month inflation is slowing.

Let us celebrate that Jill Biden's lesions were basal cell carcinoma.

Let us acknowledge how serious it is to mishandle classified documents and that the sensitivity of there being a conflict of interests necessitates special counsels to investigate why classified documents have been found in multiple unsecured locations.

It is time for Intelligence to give serious attention to how classified documents are handled.

There are lots of distinctions between the way the unsecured classified documents were found: 

As a populace we should affirm that these special counsel investigations into how and why classified documents have been found in multiple unsecured locations should proceed without the electorate snarled in the intrigue.

IMO, the circumstances make it advisable that both political parties move forward with a field of younger candidates on their 2024 primary ballots. It is time for a new generation of leadership.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"If the truth makes you uncomfortable, don't blame the truth.      
        Blame the lie that made you comfortable." -- anon

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

What does the letter "U" have to do with "W"?

The 23rd letter of the English alphabet is a bit of a wonder.      
The "W" is the only letter of the alphabet with a three-syllable name.      
It is one of three letters (H, W, and Y) with a name that does not indicate its phonetic use.

Note the print shape of "W" is actually double V.      
As the printing press evolved, so did letter shapes.      
The double-V was favored for double-U in part because of ancient Roman inscriptions.        
Over time, double VV was written as one continuous shape (W) on a single block.

The "W" makes different sounds in other languages.      
In German, "W" is pronounced like an English "V".    
In Welsh, "W" is a vowel, making a U-type sound.    
In Latin, U represented a W sound, which could only occur before a vowel.

Fancy Miss Nancy (Novak)

IF I REST, I RUST…

(GET UP, GET OUT, GET MOVING)

Dedicated to all of my friends experiencing “The Adventure of Aging.”

By Fancy Miss Nancy 

My workaholic twin 

Keeps whispering in my ear,

“Wake up now, get moving.

It’s morning don’t you hear?

Get up, get out, get moving!

Hey! Can’t you hear, my dear?”

The fight is on. My lazy brain

Begins to take a stand. 

Shush now please! 

The summer breeze 

Is dancing on my hand.

Quiet please! Enjoy the breeze!

Stop tuning up your band. 

Annoyance now is wide awake,

No whisper, but a shout.

The volume’s getting louder still.

It seems there’s no way out.

My pillow’s tight upon my head.

Can’t you let me stay in bed?

NOPE! 

GET UP, GET OUT, 

GET MOVING!!!

And I must, or else I rust!

                                   2022

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Bravo, Fancy Miss Nancy!

🍄 🎋 🌾  💐  🌺  💐  💐 🌺 🌺

Bravo, Fancy!

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

  "If you feel pain, you're alive.      
  If you feel other people's pain.      
       you're a human being."        
            -- Leo Tolstoy

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Anyone with a beating heart, and capable of empathy, is alarmed when others are harmed or threatened; when someone we love is in the company of insult, injustice, injury, degradation - anger awakens to address the threat.

In the face of dramatic wrongdoing and hate that permeate our society, it is easy either to overreact or to just ignore what's going on in our world. For better or worse, anger prompts us to action, if only to twist ourselves into a moral pretzel to defend and justify some really awful things and people. With time and patience, we can let the reflexive reactions of anger pass, and with practice, make space for creative actions prompted by anger. A constructive response need not lose its bite.

"So, yes, you bet I'm angry. It's a source of my creativity. It's a vaccination against apathy and complacency. (Anger) can be abused---or widely used. Yes, it's a temptation, but it's also a resource and an opportunity, as unavoidable and necessary as pain. It's part of the gift of being human and being alive."  -- Brian McLaren

Why not, like Brian McLaren, see anger as an opportunity and resource to take us down a much better path?    
When we're perturbed and anger rises, how do we respond?  

Donald Henry Kuehn

It's Sunday night and we're going back to the Super Bowl! How 'bout those CHIEEEEEEFFFSSSS!,

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

The Forum is a happenin' place -
           a medley of voices 🎶

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"There must always be a remedy for wrong and injustice if only we know how to find it."        
 -- Ida B Wells, 1970

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

The story of Joseph and his brothers [who threw Joseph down an empty well before selling him into slavery to passing merchants] was an interesting (and honest) text for the eulogy of Tyre Nichols today in Memphis; that and disgust that black police officers betrayed Martin Luther King's memory and his cultural message in the city where MLK was assassinated.

How does a parent overcome the horror?

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

     The Kelce Bowl LVII

        Travis vs Jason

Mahomes, Travis, Chiefs defeat Eagles 38-35 

 CHIEEEEEEFFFSSSS win LVII Championship!

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

President Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv (early this a.m. in America)
(just as President Zelenskyy made a surprise visit to D.C.).        
We are nearing the one-year mark since Russia invaded Ukraine.      
Admiration barely expresses my feelings for the people of Ukraine and President Zelenskyy.

   Glory to Ukraine.
                            🇺🇦

                  "Freedom is priceless."