Woke “Woke”. It stems from being woken up or being awake. Well? Are we..? Folks, believe me when I say that I truly have an open mind. I’m basically ruling out nothing. I will not categorize, nor will I discriminate. When I’m engaged in a conversation with a black, handicapped…

So, I’ve been on Facebook for thirteen years now. And in that time I was able to build a vast network, mostly revolving around aviation in general and my aviation art in particular. Roughly about 2,000 FB “Friends” and 6,000 followers can witness the activities that I post. The majority…

The first casualty of war is always the truth. So, the important Russian Black Sea Flagship, missile cruiser Moskva 121, was not only severely damaged but has now sunk completely. This is a fact. And then, speculations begin. Russia talked about a mishap, an explosion of munitions, crew evacuated, ship…

A few things are clear. Ukraine is a sovereign state, harboring both ethnic Ukrainians and ethnic Russians. It’s also clear that Putin’s Russia has invaded this sovereign state. First stating that he wanted to help out the ethnic Russians in Donetsk and Lugansk, basically the entire Donbass, as he had…

Somewhere in the Qur’an it is said (in my own words): “If you kill one man, it is as if you’ve killed Mankind. If you save one man, it is as if you’ve saved Mankind”. I’m not a Muslim. I’m an Atheist. Over the past weeks, I’ve had discussions in…

I am a very social bus driver. I like to chat about during my rounds, preferrably with some of the many foreign tourists. For they provide me with an extra window to the outside World. I am blessed with a somewhat photographic memory when it comes to conversations that had…

As everybody knows, wars inevitably inflict casualties. Dead and wounded. Under the doctrine ‘leave no man behind’, both of them need to be evacuated from the battlefield. Especially for the wounded, speed is essential in order for them to survive. In the old days, up until World War Two, evacuation…

Dutchbat III and Srebrenica 1995 I hate to be judgmental, I dislike people who are judgmental. And yet, these times seem to be filled with this judgemental mentality. About current events and phenomena as well as those in the past. In retrospect, people are scrutinized and subsequently crucified for their…

Music is capable of instantly and vividly bringing us back into a memory. About two decades ago, Dutch National Aviation Museum ‘Aviodome’ personnel conducted a restoration to airworthy status of Lockheed L-749 (VC-121) Constellation N749NL at Marana Northwest Regional Airport, outside of Tucson, Arizona, closely cooperating with American technicians who…