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, notwithstanding the speaker might be the only one missing a heart that day. The one … Continue reading PATTER

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 is pretty much imperceptible.  Democrats and Republicans used to be able to tell a similar … Continue reading REQUIEM

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 addict who has to keep increasing the dose to get the same high, or a … Continue reading THE PROBLEM WITH DEATH THREATS

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 Vietnam. And I remember thinking to myself, “This is an important moment in history!”  I … Continue reading RACE RELATIONS AND INFOTAINMENT

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 States of America”. But there’s another one making the rounds these days in the wake … Continue reading THE RACE WAR THERE WON’T BE

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 impervious to sober second thought. Now add the aggravating element of the ‘other’, and what … Continue reading POLICE RELATIONS MADE SIMPLE

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 why, yesterday's assurances notwithstanding, Trump will win yet again, if he does in fact win … Continue reading … OR NOT

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 not going to add to his humiliation at the polls by having to be escorted … Continue reading OBITUARY

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 long it’ll go on, not that there ever was. So plans, like flying here or … Continue reading THE MEANING OF LIFE

Few and far between are polities that manage to keep the foreigner out for long. As we’ve seen from the druthers of Donald Trump and his followers, by immigration is not meant the immigrant is necessarily welcomed in her new home, but it does mean she’s being allowed in. Invasion, on the other hand, implies … Continue reading IMMIGRATION, INVASION, OCCUPATION, AND CONQUEST