Probable Futures
“Improbable Futures,†the last chapter in Better to Have Loved (2002), is derived from an interview given by Judith Merril for a documentary six months befo...
Category: politics
Feed Me, Seymour
Polls out recently show Andrew Cuomo ahead among likely voters in the Democratic primary election in New York, and the other day the various unions declared the...
Because I Said So
There is, yet again, a sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church. I have not followed all the details, being somewhat unconcerned with Church politics a...
Yes, I like The Shire
In his New York Times column last Sunday, Ross Douthat remarked The teenage nerd enters conservatism through either Atlas Shrugged or Lord of the Rings, and bet...
Certainly Meaning Matters
Spectator sports are relaxing because I know I can't affect the outcome.
Proud to be an American, Where What?
I overhead part of an odd conversation between No. 1 Son and No. 2 Son that came while they were preparing for bed after we’d watched The Gamers: Humans &...
The War on Terror
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. What are arms?...
Shut Up and Sit Down
The Arlington (NY) Central School District, after declaring a snow day because it was snowy, sent parents a note regarding the possibility of intentional studen...
The Kids are Alright
And these children that you spit on As they try to change their worlds Are immune to your consultations They’re quite aware of what they’re going th...
Business Ethics
One of the products I worked on at Prodigy was ProdigyBiz, since expired. ProdigyBiz basically sold brochure-ware. You too can have a presence on the Internet! ...
We Have No Choice
I read Underground Airlines yesterday. It’s fresh in my memory. This morning browsing through Edible Santa Fe I ran across an advertisement for work the ...
The Customer Perspective
There’s too much wrong with the FCC — in all its various political, technical, and regulatory aspects — to get into arguments on the line. How...
But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord
It seems only appropriate that Kevin Spacey should play the lead in House of Cards. The recent outburst of sexual assault allegations following an article in th...
Practice What You Preach
Character matters.
Gaming the System
Today is election day. The children, in this school district, have the day off. It should be a state or national holiday, if elections are important to this civ...
Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right
What with the renewed interest in a Russian antagonist recently, it has become fashionable in some circles to dismiss criticism as use of a rhetorical device th...
Pictures of It Didn’t Happen
Twitter and smartphones have changed the art of citation on the Internet. It’s not enough to quote something and to link. A picture must also be included ...
Whose Safety is Secured through Obscurity?
The rules of the game determine how it is played. And if few but the players know the rules, the spectators can be confused. They might believe in an ideal vers...
It’s a Grand Old Flag
I do not think I come from unique circumstances, nor that I am exceptionally gifted an observer, but I continue to be astonished at the number of people I know ...