It is a tragedy not of a single individual or even the entire Roman Republic, but one of power, who has it, who wants it, how they get it, and how it ebbs and flows at the whims of the crowd, exercising their free and fickle will to support who they choose at any given… Continue reading Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and the nature of power in the hands of the people
Month: May 2024
Personal lessons in the wonders and limits of diversity
Diversity, if we take that to mean the richness of experience and ways of life, requires people to stick with their own to some extent and exclude others from some things. I was born and bred in majority white towns, a proud member of Generation X who grew up in the 1980s. Throughout my grade… Continue reading Personal lessons in the wonders and limits of diversity
No, Jerry Seinfeld isn’t controversial and the media shouldn’t be pretending otherwise
Mr. Seinfeld becomes living proof that everything and anything needs to be constantly reevaluated according to our ever changing standards of moral decency, and anyone who expresses an opinion of any kind even remotely at odds with those standards will find themselves facing either cancellation criticism or forced irrelevance. At the risk of stating the… Continue reading No, Jerry Seinfeld isn’t controversial and the media shouldn’t be pretending otherwise
Trump’s intentionally salacious trials, from Stormy Daniels testimony to the FBI staging lurid photos
Stormy Daniels tells the court she spanked a former President with a rolled up magazine that had his photo on the cover before insisting she can speak to dead people while the FBI admits to staging the legal equivalent of pornography with a sensational photo of altered classified documents. While the media has been obsessed… Continue reading Trump’s intentionally salacious trials, from Stormy Daniels testimony to the FBI staging lurid photos
An aging coonhound’s bizarre behavior and a lesson for all of us
Lily gave up a treat she loved because dinner was bigger and better, but now she doesn’t get the treat at all – and she doesn’t even realize it. Lest you think I am picking on poor dogs, there are likely many, many people out there that suffer from a similar phenomenon. Most dogs are… Continue reading An aging coonhound’s bizarre behavior and a lesson for all of us
Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” and the King of Pop’s controversial legacy
Even having lived through the cultural and musical phenomenon that was Jackson’s golden years, it is difficult to remember how truly unique and special he was, at least when the music isn’t playing. Then, it’s impossible to forget. Michael Jackson is something of a tragic figure in the music and cultural worlds. The undisputed King… Continue reading Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” and the King of Pop’s controversial legacy
Splitting antisemitic hairs with an electron microscope
It took former Friends actor David Schwimmer to state the obvious about the protests sweeping American campuses, “If this were any other minority group the response would have been immediate outrage and action. And yet this antisemitism grows, spreading from middle school to high school to college campuses nationwide…” It’s a sign of our bizarre… Continue reading Splitting antisemitic hairs with an electron microscope
Nature means nothing without people and the experts have all gone insane
For hundreds of millions of years, life persisted on Earth with no meaning at all. Trillions upon trillions of creatures lived and died, born as dust and returned to it without remark. Humanity changed all that, making the meaningless, meaningful. Nature means nothing without people might seem a bold statement on the surface. Nature, after… Continue reading Nature means nothing without people and the experts have all gone insane
Computers are killing the planet
Surprise, surprise, the experts and the media suddenly discover that the internet age and the rise of Artificial Intelligence requires a lot of energy and other natural resources, contributing to global warming and threatening the environment. It’s a common trope in science fiction, one that needs no introduction to anyone familiar with the genre: Computers… Continue reading Computers are killing the planet
Francis Ford Coppola’s haunting The Conversation might be more important than The Godfather fifty years later
The Godfather is what most would consider the better movie by normal standards. A far more beloved and well-remembered film, but which rings more true today when most of us spend our days trapped behind computer screens? Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola somehow managed to direct The Conversation, what has proved to be an almost… Continue reading Francis Ford Coppola’s haunting The Conversation might be more important than The Godfather fifty years later









