ξενιτεια

The Path to Rome...

is littered with "babarians".  They're delicious, too.

Rome is Mine!

Sorry I've not written much of late.  Not that any one reads or cares.  But I've been steadily conquering the known world.  Ah, there's nothing quite like sacking Carthage over breakfast.  Or goosestepping in Rome.  Once again, kudos to Creative Assembly. 

Sergei on Ryongchon

Again, some old news. By now everyone knows about the explosions in North Korea near the Chinese border.

I don't have any commentary to add, damning or otherwise beyond this:

I was talking to Sergei, a delightful old man at church on Sunday - a man who went to church with exiled Russians in China, then fled Communism to North Korea where he then had to flee it again. Anyway, he has a rather large, quite understandable chip on his shoulder about Communism, so I have to take what he says with a grain of anti-conspiracy salt. Nonetheless, what he noted about Ryongchon was interesting. It seems that the town was an especially strong Christian enclave at the time of the Communist take over; Kim Il Song held them in particularly strong contempt. Sergie suggested that while the explosion was likely unintentional, the general ambivalence North Korean government has shown might be the result of a lingering animosity toward Ryongchon.

He had other, more exotic theories about secret dissident groups that made for some great story telling but are way too complex to be recounted here.