If It Starts to Feel Like Work...

An F-15E Strike Eagle takes off in Southwest Asia, July 7, 2017. The aircraft, assigned to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, is supporting U.S. Central Command's Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve.
Air Force Photo by SrA Damon Kasberg (Source)

I once told myself that if this blogging thing ever started to feel like work, then I would stop.

Now, now, don't panic, today is not that day. (For those of you who started cheering, sit back down and keep coloring.)

There are those days though where the Muse has decided to stay out late, have entirely too much to drink, fall in with a bad crowd, and leave me staring at a blank screen wondering just what the heck am I supposed to write about. Before you turn away thinking that this is one of those "I got nothing" posts, it isn't. Not really. It's just that from time to time I feel the need to blather on about whatever pops into my head.

That time is now. So here we go. (Stay tuned I may throw some military pr0n at you, maybe even a video, I dunno yet, I'm flying by the seat of my pants right now.)

One thing I want to say first is that occasional reader William (at least I think it's him) has been doing some excellent work over at The Lexicans. Especially this, a little thing I like to call "The Index." Pretty much the highlights of Lex's work over the time he was blogging. This plays into my (non) choice of topic for today's post. For various reasons, the Cap'n had thought of getting out of the blogging game, but (Praise the Lord) did not. So I read that post today. The second piece of that (which originally ran a week later) was what really struck me.

Am I obsessive about blogging? You betcha. There are times when The Missus Herself has mentioned that I needed to step away from the keyboard and take a breath. The Nuke considers me to be "part of the media." (Which I deny, vociferously.) The WSO just wants to know, "So is today's post about me?" To which the answer is sometimes yes. (Yes, I still remind her that we're all breathlessly awaiting her inaugural post, I mean after all, she is on the masthead.)

While I am not constantly thinking about what to post, no, really, I'm not, (okay, there are days where that is the case), I have, occasionally gone to bed perhaps a tad later than I should, writing what I hope will be an excellent post. Yes, that is rather a hit or miss proposition.

For instance, my last couple of posts were regarding current events, a topic I try to stay away from because I like to take the historian's long view of things. (Current events, by their very nature, are not yet history, not quite. Sure they're in the past, but not the "years ago" variety past.) So when I do address a recent event, it's because I feel rather strongly about it.

I have been working on a post about Poland (really Paweł, I'm working on it) but such a topic is "yuge." Poland has a long history, much of it of the unhappy variety. So when I'm chasing down things that I find interesting about a topic (and I hope you do as well), I will occasionally stumble upon an interesting thing which just blows my mind. Like this.

As you might have noticed that link goes to Правда, er, I mean, the New York Times. What really drew me in, and made me read the whole thing, was the headline -

Poland’s Nationalism Threatens Europe’s Values, and Cohesion

Well gee, isn't that special? If, like me (sometimes) you found the article to be TL;DR (too long; didn't read) I think these two paragraphs are what spun me up -

The tug of war has intensified as Eastern Europe becomes the incubator for a new model of “illiberal democracy” for which Hungary has laid the groundwork. But it is Poland — so large, so rich, so militarily powerful and so important geostrategically — that will define whether the European Union’s long effort to integrate the former Soviet bloc succeeds or fails.

The stakes, many believe, far outweigh those of Britain’s exit from the European Union, or Brexit, as the bloc faces a painful reckoning over whether, despite its efforts at discipline, it has enabled the anti-democratic drift, and what to do about it. (Source)

So the European Union is worried about Poland actually being Poland. The NY Times is worried about it as well, I dunno, perhaps the Poles are doing something right? That bold underlined bit above really jerked my chain - I mean really, "the EU's long effort to integrate the former Soviet bloc"?

Integrate as in "dictate to them"? Is that what they mean? What do some of the ordinary "man in the street" Poles think?

Rafal Pstragowski, the 37-year-old mayor of Sniadowo, an independent in his seventh year in office, echoed the sentiments. “Poland is a traditional Christian country and Poland respects other religions,” he said, “but we want our culture to be respected, too.”

“There is a fear among people that Western secularism is a threat to our traditional culture,” he added. “If things in Europe keep going in the same direction, people think that the migration crisis and terrorist attacks could start here, too.’’

Slawomir Zgrzywa, 55, a local historian, said that Poland’s long history of conflict with Russia had made it skeptical of “any sort of left-wing or liberal politics,” and had enhanced the standing of a deeply conservative and politicized Roman Catholic priesthood. (Source)

I'd be interested to hear occasional reader Paweł's take on what's going on in Poland.

So yes, there are times I sit down to write and the old noggin is as blank as a snowy field in Wisconsin (just to see if occasional reader Scott is paying attention). At other times, the posts seem to write themselves.

I'm not sure where today's post falls on that scale. But hey look, another Eagle! (Or three...)

Three U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagles from the 44th Fighter Squadron train with Japan Air Self Defense Forces Nov. 17, 2010, off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan. Twelve jets and nearly 200 Airmen from Kadena Air Base, Japan, participated in an aviation training relocation program.U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Mike Tateishi (Source)

The weekend approaches, perhaps another historical post, perhaps not.

I'm about as predictable as New England weather...