The events of the last year, particularly the last week, make it clear that the struggle against fascism and other forms of intolerance did not end in 1945. There is a distinct possibility people will be called upon to defend freedom again at some point in my lifetime - and with nuclear weapons a thing, there might end up not being anything else but freedom.
I wonder what the veterans who sleep in Flanders Fields are making of all of this.
Well, he's back for another four years. Unless he drops dead first, which is possible. I want to wait for all the final numbers to come in, but my initial thought is that there is a danger of overcomplicating this election.
"It's the economy, stupid" goes a long way to explaining the results, frankly.
As for Trump, we're about to see how strongly the guardrails cope with his crazy ideas.
We are nearing the end of an election campaign even nastier than the last one. Donald Trump and his Republicans have engaged in the sort of rhetoric that the Nazis used and they're increasingly not able to hide it.
Kamala Harris, thrust into the nomination after the Biden campaign collapsed, has done a remarkable job in the circumstances, although admittedly many are not entirely happy about her lack of a clear stance on Gaza. She might be clearer on that once election is secured.
The election looks very close, but one of course must remember a little thing called margin of error; a blowout in the swing states is entirely possible with a normal polling error.
The Trump campaign seems to be having some major issues with its ground game; they also seem to be setting the "information environment" (thank you Institute for the Study of War for that) to claim election fraud after any loss. The insult comic at the Madison Square Garden rally seems to have invoked real fury among Puerto Ricans.
Harris has an advantage in enthusiasm, particularly among women and older voters. The Democrats are seem to be at just the right level of confidence to avoid complacency.
So, here is how I think it is going to go:
Today marks one year since the October 7 attacks by Hamas on innocent Israelis that very much set the spark for a conflict that shows no signs of a quick resolution.
Both Hamas and Israel have bitten off very much more than they can easily chew here - so has Hezbollah. It is quite likely at this stage that Israel will eventually be able to defeat both of them, but at a very high human cost. Quite how the Gazan death toll has been so low is a mystery to me - we could easily have seen a quarter of the strip's population dead by this point.
Ultimately the peaceful resolution would be a two-state one, but that would need powerful moderates on both sides to be able to deliver it. There currently aren't sadly, so it looks like this conflict might go on for a while; any ceasefire would just be temporary.
And innocents on both sides will continue to suffer.
If she had just done Violet Crawley and Professor McGonagall, she would have worth a glowing obituary. But that was just a small section of a very long acting career.
She was one of the greatest actresses of the last century. Her list of accolades is massive, with the DBE coming even before she had done Harry Potter. Few could do a waspish put-down like her - she stole every scene she was in on Downton Abbey.
She will be greatly missed. RIP.
One of the greatest voice actors of all time has died.
Darth Vader was simply an iconic role that any actor would be happy to have on his obituary, but he did so much more than that over his very long career. His legacy will last for centuries.
Rest in Peace.
