Photo: Ileana Johnson 11-3-15
Leasylvania Elementary School Precinct, Prince William county
Voters who showed up at 6 a.m. on November 3, 2015 to vote in Prince William County, northern Virginia, were greeted at the Leesylvania Elementary School Precinct by a closed door with the sign, “Polls Closed, (sic) at the moment until computer problems are solved! Sorry!” Continue reading
Mom in Catoctin Mountain
It’s Mother’s Day 2015. We drove by Catoctin Mountain, Maryland. It’s a verdant late spring with a balmy bathed-in-the sunshine day. It is a bittersweet Mother’s Day for me. Mom and I used to come to Fredrick in the fall to pick apples and other fruits from the many orchards in the area. Local small farms would sell their preserves, honey, and home-made pies. The trees were so laden with fragrant apples that the branches would almost touch the ground in some parts. The bees were kissing the sweet nectar of rotting apples on the ground and the apple cider dripping from the barrel’s spout outside. If you were there, samples of cider were free for the taking. Continue reading
The 2015 Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) was released on April 27. According to the website, it is “a blueprint for U.S. foreign policy.” Following the 2010 review, the 2015 version identifies priorities and reforms needed to “advance the U.S. interests articulated in the 2015 National Security Strategy.” Continue reading