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 ›
Why My Colleagues are Idiots
THE SCRUM
*This post was first published on May 11, 2020 English has one distinct advantage over Italian. The distinction between an assertive and interrogative is embedded in the construction of the sentence. In writing Italians have to rely on the question mark,… Read More ›
FRANCES WIDDOWSON
Frances Widdowson is a tenured professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As it happens, I know the woman. And truth be told, I quite like her. Were I confined to a one word description of her it… Read More ›
‘TWAS AND ‘TIS ALWAYS THUS
There isn’t a single person – or a married one for that matter – who hasn’t done something unworthy of himself. Even that Jesus fellow overturned tables that didn’t belong to him. So if we only erect statues to “he… Read More ›
ANIMUS
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 ›
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 ›
