After valiantly testing several Cognacs (I am doing this in order to save you, I hope you appreciate it), I have found that I enjoy Pierre Ferrand Cognac better than Hennessy, Remy Martin, Martel and Courvoisier in the $50-60 price range (this would include their VSOP labels). The two formulas that I enjoy are the Ambre and the 1840. Both are stored for up to ten years (some Cognac is sold after only two years but it is only good for cooking) and have distinctive tastes.

The Ambre has more of an orange and floral taste whereas the 1849 is more of a honey and carmel taste. They are both smooth, do not burn and show the difference between Cognac and Calvados in the best light. The price difference between the two is only in the range of $5.00 so it is easy to have a tasting for a reasonable price.

I have enjoyed both with and without a cigar, sometimes to top off an excellent meal or even when I am simply reading. But, be careful, they can sneak up on you! Enjoy!

This is his classic auto-biography and covers his life from early childhood, through College, the First World War and beyond.  Graves, who was a poet, critic, novelist, translator and author of more than 120 books of history, mythology and fiction, is perhaps best known for his historical novel and fantastic BBC series, “I Claudius”. 

This story is getting some national play as it should; 3rd graders learning about critical race theory instead of learning math. What is wrong with our school system, the school boards and our political leaders who mandate these types of classes? Greater skills are needed by our children yet classes such as this harken back to racial theories discredited by science and those that were destroyed with the destruction of Nazi Germany in 1945. Those who teach this instead of skills needed throughout life should be ashamed of themselves. Thank goodness there are parents who are paying attention to their children’s education. https://www.city-journal.org/identity-politics-in-cupertino-california-elementary-school

We seem to love to argue back and forth about government spending, where the money is going, who made how much money out of what crisis, etc. What is the source of our information? Talking heads? Policy makers? The newspapers? Social media? We are in trouble! This article points out that those who we cite often are as ignorant if not more than each of us. Maybe we should be a bit more skeptical of our sources ignorance and motives? https://www.city-journal.org/the-facts-we-take-on-faith

When we think of saving Europe from itself, we think of our involvement in World War I when our fresh, if inexperienced Army tipped the scales for an Allied victory. Then there was World War II when our production capacity and military literally buried the Axis powers and pulled Europe from a blood letting of its own making. After that, there was the Marshall Plan when the infusion of U.S. capital and technical expertise restarted the Western European economies which lead to decades of unimagined growth. During that time, we played parent by stationing hundreds of thousands of troops in Europe and for the first time in a thousand years the Europeans were not killing one another. After the Cold War, we saved Europe again during the economic crisis of 2007-8; due to their poor accounting and banking regulations, “at least half the liquidity support it (the Fed) provided went to banks not headquartered in the United States, but located overwhelmingly in Europe.” (Crashed by Adam Tooze, pp13). Without that help from the U.S. taxpayer, most European banks would have gone under. But, the Europeans seem to be a bit slow to learn as we see from this article on the Zombie firms in Europe and the poor state of the European banking community. With the Europeans signing a major trade deal with the Communist Chinese, maybe this time they will be rescued by someone other than our taxpayers, but I am sure the terms shall be much more difficult. https://www.wsj.com/articles/zombies-could-stunt-the-bank-recovery-11610447847?page=1

It seems that old values and history are going onto the trash heap, to be replaced by what? As the author says, do those who flock to the U.S. come for the Green Deal or the environmental programs? Or, do they come for the promise of more freedom, the opportunity to create personal wealth and a better opportunity for their children? How is it that those who give up so much and risk so much have a better image of America that those born and raised here who have feasted at the American table with such little effort? What do those who degrade our nation and it’s history offer in the place that which they destroy? Can they show in any manner, that their goals and policies are actually beneficial to all of us? This article asks these and other questions and if the leadership of those who destroy offer any positive image or program. https://amgreatness.com/2021/01/03/defenders-of-civilization/

FDR was a master politician, as long as he was dealing with American politicians. Prior to his first meeting with Stalin, Churchill offered his experience from meetings with Stalin but FDR turned him down; he was confident that he could win over Stalin with the power of his personality. After the conference in Teheran, FDR said, “The Russians are perfectly friendly. They aren’t trying to gobble up all the rest of Europe or the world”. Many tens of millions paid the price for his hubris.

During the Second World War, Grossman was an outstanding war correspondent for the Soviet Union and did his part to create the waves of patriotism which helped the Soviet Union defeat Germany.  After the war, Grossman became disillusioned with the system; his visits to the death camps in the Occupied Lands and the refusal of the official State organs to portray the millions of Jewish victims as having any special place in the memory of the war, plus the move towards anti-Semitism once the war was won helped to make him created his greatest novels.

It looks like the Culture War is going to heat up again. We forget that for a few years we did not have to listen to the whining of every group who felt they were abused, we did not have to hear about micro-aggressions or shrinking free speech zones. Hopefully, this silly idea will be batted down. Democratic Senator Telci Gabbard is out there to protect women’s sports, hopefully she can also protect women’s right to privacy in showers and bathrooms. https://thefederalist.com/2020/12/03/chuck-schumer-endorses-bidens-plan-to-force-public-schools-to-allow-males-in-female-bathrooms/

Even today, stories of World War II are fascinating. A positive story of those terrible years is like a small gem, something to be valued and shared. This story of an ex-Infantryman and three Italian children is one such gem. For decades Martin Adler remembered one incident in the war when he hesitated for a second while searching for the enemy. Thankfully, he found three children and a potential tragedy was turned into a positive life time memory. Mr. Adler always wondered what happened to those three children recently he found out during a virtual reunion. A nice story, fitting for the Christmas season. I hope you enjoy it. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/world/europe/Italy-World-War-II-American-soldier-reunion.html