It always seemed to me that the Chinese would never replace us as global hegemons. It wasn’t their economic strength, nor the size or innovative nature of their population. It was their language. In order to impose your will on the rest of the world you have to impose your culture. Surely English has becomeContinue reading “Lack of Foresight”
Category Archives: Archive
Mind the Gap
Thursday had been a perfect day for a ride, but I found some excuse. By Sunday the guilt had overcome me and, on another perfect day, I’d set out with barely a clue as to where I was headed. Up the familiar Rt 501, our escape highway to and over the Blue Mountain, I had anContinue reading “Mind the Gap”
Took the Bait
Sorry, I couldn’t resist the urge to write about this Charlie Kirk thing, despite the real risk that Bondi’s Thought Police might come a’knockin, no matter how carefully I couch it.Truth is, like most of you reading this, I stay in my own media silo. Which means, NY Times, Washington Post, PBS, major network newsContinue reading “Took the Bait”
That Hurts!
“Death by a Thousand Cuts” is more than a Taylor Swift song title. It’s the name of a form of execution, practiced over centuries in China, in which the victims were killed slowly and agonizingly over a protracted period of time, by repeated small cuts to their flesh. In its metaphorical form, it applies toContinue reading “That Hurts!”
The End
Perhaps we’re too focused on the excruciating details. But the 10,000-foot view should tell us that we’re in the midst of a fundamental change. Empires crumble. They always have. And the era of the American Empire is rapidly coming to a close. It’s really not Trump’s fault. He’s just the catalyst. We’re our own undoingContinue reading “The End”
The Enema Within
Anyone with an iota of common sense has known for some time that this country was on the slides. Toxic culture long preceded the rise of Trump. Violence and coarseness have been pouring into every home via their numerous screens. Wokeness runs amok. A populace deadened by the banality of social media, myopic phone addictionContinue reading “The Enema Within”
Ah, Porto
Probably the last place I thought I’d ever end up visiting was Portugal. Whoever hears anything about Portugal? Our visits to Spain had imparted a great respect for the Spanish people and their culture, giving me a kind of bias against Portugal as an Iberian also-ran. Then there was the language. “Everyone” says that PortugueseContinue reading “Ah, Porto”
This Ain’t Really Our Lives
The title of this piece is taken from the words of my oft-mentioned guru, Gil Scott-Heron, possibly at the top of the list of American poets, since he delivered the real, instead of the metaphorical. First performed in 1981, I hope you’ll take the time to listen to this masterpiece.It’s a mere 12 minutes. But,Continue reading “This Ain’t Really Our Lives”
On Kipling
A bit of wine and re-watching my late sister’s Brattleboro, Vermont memorial gathering video has inspired me to write about Rudyard Kipling. For Christmas past I asked for and received a collection of his poetry, all 831 pages of it. Not sure where that amount of love of Kipling came from. Perhaps it was aContinue reading “On Kipling”
Commonly Asked Questions
Recently, after an anomaly with our email “client” (I’m not sure that’s the right term, but “they” really like to use it on the internet), I went to Proton Mail’s help site and gave a detailed account in my plea for an explanation. As always, the first response was to refer me to an online list of “CommonlyContinue reading “Commonly Asked Questions”
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