A Chinese view of Kiev on 2/25/23:

Unlike during Biden's visit, no air raid sirens were turned on. Brainwashed by Hollywood, too many people have a very distorted notion of what life during war is like. Of course, there's death and terror, but people also work in offices, stores, farms and factories, and they go to bars and movies.

Born in 11/12/63 in Saigon, I was living in District 10 during the Tet Offensive of 1968, and I heard nothing. In 1975, I was going to school until April 8th, just three weeks before the Fall of Saigon. On 4/8/75, the Presidential Palace just half a mile from my school was bombed, so OK, we stopped going to school. By then, Hue, Quang Tri, Da Nang and Da Lat had fallen.

I once had an enraged leftist moron scream at me, right on this blog, for having a somewhat normal life during war. Only an American like him was entitled to such, apparently.

Two years ago, I spent nine weeks in Lebanon, mostly in its Hezbollah controlled south. Though it was clearly a society in crisis, with Israeli planes routinely violating its airspace, Lebanese sat in elegant cafes and enjoyed family meals at restaurants. They also joked and laughed. At dawn in Beirut, men jumped into the cold ocean water for a brisk swim.

[Sidon, 11/13/20]