Last week, my town (Branford, Connecticut) passed a budget for the upcoming year (2026, for readers keeping track from the distant and unknowable future). That budget will fund the town’s departments and activities. As Chair of the Public Services Committee, I had an opportunity to (along with the other members of my committee and membersContinue reading “Branford’s 2026 Budget”
Author Archives: fancypencilhand
Changes to My Social Media Policy
Last year, even before a presidential election that was extremely unpleasant (both in its conduct and outcome), I had resolved to leave Twitter. Under Musk, the platform had become an unflushable toilet bowl filled with lies, insults, slander, propaganda. Mistruth after vomitous mistruth piled up in Twitter until that’s all one could see. After monthsContinue reading “Changes to My Social Media Policy”
What Would it Take To Secure and Militarize the U.S. Border?
People talking about border security do so without seriously intending to fully secure the U.S. border, because to do so would be incredibly costly.
In Search of Faith
1937 was not one of humankind’s better years. The Japanese invaded China and set about massacring POWs and civilians. Warplanes with the Nazi German “Condor Legion” bombed Guernica on behalf of nationalist (fascist) Spain , part of a brutal civil war raging there. Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Atlantic, the Hindenburg airship exploded, and strikingContinue reading “In Search of Faith”
Branford: Big Town, Small Town
If you ask most Republicans and many independents whether they believe government and bureaucracy ought to get bigger at a local, state, or (especially) federal level they will say “no.” Government ought in many cases to stay the same size or to shrink. The most extreme conservatives who are still recognizably part of a modernContinue reading “Branford: Big Town, Small Town”
The Murder of Marinka
I spent much of my time on the Ukrainian front line between 2015-17 in Marinka. The day after Christmas, 2023, I learned that the town’s remains had been fully occupied by Russia Christmas of 2023, Russia finally completed its destruction of the town of Marinka. Without Russia’s invasions in 2014 and more recently in 2022Continue reading “The Murder of Marinka”
On the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
In Kyiv you live under the sword of Damocles. Every day: what if Russia starts bombing using jets, what if they nuke, what if they invade from Belarus. It is very difficult to live under those conditions. If you don’t have milk or eggs you go out to the store to buy them. If youContinue reading “On the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”
Against Expanding Tweed
It’s the 21st century. After centuries of struggle and scientific advances in medicine — of one painful step forward followed by numerous staggering steps back — we’ve arrived at a moment in history where we know in detail the things that can hurt a person, and how, if not always why. We know the various ways thatContinue reading “Against Expanding Tweed”
On War Films and National Unification, or Why Ukraine Deserves a National Epic
Ukraine has been occupied by many countries for years, decades, and even (Russia) nearly two centuries, in some places. Accustomed to being represented in other nations’ epics and stories, the time has come for Ukraine to create a story of its own, to fit its national history.
Hybrid War Comes to America
The actions on Capitol Hill January 6th suggest that Hybrid War (as defined by the author) could be coming to America or is already here.
The Local Blind Spot 