Because for seventy years Yugoslavia was one country, as government workers, university professors, and so on, Serbs and Croats lived side by side in its capital, Belgrade. So I’m told that, when the war broke out after the death of… Read More ›
Month: August 2020
PATTER
I’m certain that clergy, politicians, and news anchors all take the same course in patter. Given how often “our hearts go out to …”, one wonders if they ever stay home. Note that it’s invariably our hearts, first person plural,… Read More ›
REQUIEM
If people want radically different things from their government, it’s unlikely there’s going to be enough political stability to produce much of anything. So it’s a sign of a healthy society that the distance between Liberals and Conservatives in Canada… Read More ›
THE PROBLEM WITH DEATH THREATS
The problem with death threats is that you can’t elicit them. God knows I’ve tried. They have to come at you from left field, which so far they haven’t. So obviously I need to switch strategies. Not unlike a drug… Read More ›
RACE RELATIONS AND INFOTAINMENT
It was February, 1968, and I was just turning eighteen. I was sitting at a sidewalk cafe in Callao, the port city adjacent to Lima, Peru, reading an English language Time magazine that was reporting on the Tet Offensive in… Read More ›
THE RACE WAR THERE WON’T BE
There are certain mantras that are omitted only at the speaker’s peril. For example, whenever there’s a tragedy the politician’s “heart [has to go] out to the friends and family”. And every address must end with “God bless the United… Read More ›
POLICE RELATIONS MADE SIMPLE
It ain’t rocket science, people. Fear begets fight or flight. But sometimes – e.g. when defiance of legitimate authority is involved – the latter isn’t an option. Fight requires anger. And anger, if it’s to do its job, is notoriously… Read More ›
… OR NOT
Yesterday I posted my obituary for the Trump administration. But a less knee-jerk reader has reminded me that “it ain’t over till the fat lady sings”. He’s right. And so to cover my ass, I owe myself an explanation for… Read More ›
OBITUARY
It’s by no means a certainty, but it’s beginning to look like Trump isn’t going to win a second term. Some people think he’s going to find some pretext not to step down, but I think they’re just awfulizing. He’s… Read More ›
THE MEANING OF LIFE
In an entry I posted on March 30 entitled “A Walk in the Sun”, I predicted the Covid crisis would be over by the beginning of summer. I was wrong. There now appears to be no way to predict how… Read More ›
Paulosophical Vimplications 