The above picture was not taken in Oslo, and it was not taken by me. But it was taken in Norway — way, way up, in Svalbard. That’s in the Arctic Ocean. It was taken by the great Kyle Parker, of the U.S. Helsinki Commission. (I’ll have a podcast with him next week.) He writes, “Didn’t see any polar bears, but did hear someone fire a warning shot to scare one off.”

My Impromptus today is an Oslo photo journal, which might tickle your fancy: here. Have some mail?

In yesterday’s Impromptus, I spoke of foreign battalions in Ukraine — battalions of people from elsewhere who are helping the Ukrainians fend off their invader. I wrote,

We have had some foreign help ourselves, here in the United States. The three most lustrous names, I suppose, are “Lafayette,” “Kościuszko,” and “Steuben.”

You know, I don’t know enough about Baron von Steuben. (I don’t know enough about Lafayette and Kościuszko either. For that matter, I don’t know enough about Washington and Jefferson. Who can ever know enough?) I know that Steubenville, Ohio, is named after the baron — that’s Dean Martin’s hometown. I know about Steuben Day parades, held in various American cities. Ferris Bueller put Chicago’s on the map. (Voici.) But that’s not knowing enough.

A reader writes,

. . . Like Tocqueville, Steuben had a foreigner’s insight into the American character. While training the Continental Army at Valley Forge, he wrote this to a fellow officer back in Prussia: “You say to your soldier, ‘Do this,’ and he doeth it. But I am obliged to say [to the American soldier], ‘This is the reason you ought to do this,’ and then he does it.”

Why does an American need to know why? Because then he can adjust strategy and tactics on his own, as circumstances change, to achieve the objective. Our Marines like to say “improvise, adapt, overcome.” Is that not the essence of American exceptionalism, and the thought pattern of a people steeped in well-ordered liberty?

In response to some things I’ve had lately about Iran and the Iranian revolution, a reader writes,

. . . When I was in college at GWU from 1971–76, protests against the Shah were frequent and there were lots of posters up. After I graduated and was in Navy OCS in Newport, R.I., we had a group of Iranian officer candidates there and they were an arrogant bunch (refused to help in cleaning the bathrooms claiming that it was against their religion but obviously drinking alcohol on Saturday night in the Officers Club). I was not surprised that the armed forces folded quickly.

A reader responding to my Impromptus on Wednesday writes,

I agree with your displeasure over the recent Supreme Court decision regarding the adoption of Indian children. Our oldest son had considered adopting a child who had some Indian blood in him but was not permitted to do so as the tribe wanted to keep as many people as possible listed as Indians.

Finally,

I’m a retired general contractor, developer, opera fan, sailor, free-thinking conservative. Summer in Seattle, rest of the time in Austin, Texas. I love Texas! My contradictions cause much consternation among friends. You seem a bit mixed up yourself!

Heh. Thank you, one and all.