America’s idea of itself as a great and enviable nation was encapsulated by the now defunct print edition of the Reader’s Digest and its signature feature, “Laughter, the Best Medicine”. For those in trepidation of what MAGA portends, the best antidote is a sense of irony and the absurd.… Read the rest
New Year’s resolutions being notoriously unkept, 2025 can be better than the unlamented year we just lurched through if the media harkens back to what its job is, or at least ought to be, and peacemakers take on board the lesson of a 13th century papal conclave.… Read the rest
In the spirit of good neighbourliness, I would like to take this opportunity to caution U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that his “great idea!!!” of making Canada the “51st state” isn’t even a good idea, because, frankly sir, we’d be more trouble than we’re worth.… Read the rest
After months of paying undue attention to political pomposity calculated to intimidate the indecisive, flatter the fools and fool the feckless, a break is in order. Ergo, I resolved to record one thing that made me smile each day between my last perch post and this one.… Read the rest
Nature has an unrivalled ability to still the depressing chorus of affronts to our intelligence by politics, and to the English language by those who bring the transgressions to our attention. It also gifts us metaphors for humanity’s foibles.… Read the rest
Trying to cut through and parse the rhetorical bedlam of current U.S. politics can be taxing to the point of painful. A useful tool is the advice a dear departed friend, who read voraciously and talked volubly, proffered whenever I lost track of what she was on about: “Listen to what I mean, not to what I say.”… Read the rest
The evidence of growing inadequacy and an ongoing slippage of human intelligence, on both macro and micro levels, is enough to make even a sceptic like me re-consider the risk-versus-rewards of AI.… Read the rest
When Joni Mitchell sang “You don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone”, she was referring to love and the beauty of Nature. Having recently lost – temporarily and not drastically – visual acuity in one eye, I can add a few more things to her list, and they’re not all bad.… Read the rest
A poem from which many of my generation drew perceived wisdom includes the line: “And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”.To my deep chagrin, I find it is not clear, and I sincerely hope there’s a course correction in the unfolding bit, starting with the way we’re being kept up to date with the process.… Read the rest
In the introduction to his hugely popular 1950s radio series “This I Believe”, CBS News broadcaster Edward R Murrow said:“We hardly need to be reminded that we are living in an age of confusion - a lot of us have traded in our beliefs for bitterness and cynicism or for a heavy package of despair or even a quivering portion of hysteria.… Read the rest