Trans women aren’t women, and indigenous people aren’t indigenous. But they’re both people. So are white people. So are rich people. Start with that. And if you do, you’ll notice that all people get constipated, and when they’re not they… Read More ›
Angst
A CARTESIAN MEDITATION
For twelve summers, until this one, I’ve spent the lion’s share of April to September in a village overlooking the Amalfi Coast. If the borders reopen by next April, I’ll be able to carry on as before. But if not… Read More ›
MOMENTS
I was in a firefight once. I could tell you about it, but then I’d have to kill you. Besides, it was in my misspent youth. Still, to my credit I didn’t shit my pants until after the bullets stopped… Read More ›
A MEDITATION ON COMPLEASANCE
The majority view is that global warming is real. The minority view is that it’s not. The majority view is that masks save lives. The minority view is that they don’t. Since nothing in my own behaviour hangs on who’s… Read More ›
WHY PATRON AND FARBER?
Of the hundreds of entires I’ve posted since starting this blog, the least interesting, as far as I can see, is the passing banal comment I made on the contretemps between Travis Patron and Bernie Farber. And yet, for some… Read More ›
KUMBAYA
Matter can neither be created nor destroyed. Well, if true that pretty much puts the kibosh on Creationism. But doesn’t it also rule out the Doctrine of Bodily Ascension? That is, at the moment of Mary’s ascension, the mass of… 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 ›
THE DEVIL’S LAMENT
They say the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist. Not so. In fact his greatest frustration is that he can’t convince the world he does. I have a recently retired colleague for whom… Read More ›
A WALK IN THE SUN
There’s a remote possibility that … Hang on. To assert that something is highly unlikely – for example that civilization as we know it will come to an end as a result of this Covid 19 pandemic – presupposes a… Read More ›
THE PLIGHT OF THE ANTI-SEMITIC SEMITE
Down the hall in the English Department, we have an otherwise highly respected colleague who believes, and I quote, that “Any criticism of the State of Israel is anti-Semitism.” I take this to mean that if the Israelis decided to… Read More ›
