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Have we learned our lesson?
There’s no lesson to be learned. It is said that those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it. The fact is that those of us who do remember history are doomed to “repeat it” right along with the rest of you, so as far as being a social prophylactic goes, memory is… Continue reading
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The State of the Novel
A few weeks ago, I wrote that I was striving to finish my most recent revision of The Ghost of Canard University by January First. I am pleased to announce that, in spite of my heinous executive dysfunction, I have indeed finished this revision—as of last Friday, January Sixteenth, 2026. That very evening, the revised… Continue reading
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On Martin Luther King Jr Day
It matters why we do things. This is not because good deeds are less helpful when motivated by selfishness, or because bad deeds hurt less when carried out with the best of intentions. On an individual basis, a deed is only a thing done, for better or worse. Our motivations matter because they shape the… Continue reading
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Catfishing: The Wikipedia Guessing Game
Some time ago, a friend of mine introduced me to a delightful website that I have visited nearly every day since. It appeals to the part of me that loves general knowledge trivia, which is most of me; it also has a funny name that will probably be misunderstood, given the other ways it is… Continue reading
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Maybe Next Week
I’ve got a lot to think about. I’ve got a lot to do. There is no saving the world in feeling bad, or in writing about why the world needs saving or why you feel bad. There’s no exorcising those bad feelings with something you dashed off in a few minutes, or a spasm of… Continue reading
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For Renee Nicole Good
There’s not much I can add to the story of what happened in Minneapolis yesterday—the murder of Renee Nicole Good by agents of ICE, for the offense of having been watching them (which is not a crime), and then trying to drive away from them. I can tell you that the official stance of the… Continue reading
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Donald Trump Violates International Law and the U.S. Constitution
It seems like it would be a waste of time to explain to my fellow countrymen that, if some other country were to conduct a military strike on Washington, D.C. as part of an operation to abduct the President of the United States and force him to stand trial in a foreign court, all while… Continue reading
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Engagement Hustle
Too aestheticto be self-aware—one mustconsider whether senses may subvert the matterUntenable—the second half-second the quarter-sec before the rod cracks the base of the skullThe illustration of the Great Man shall bow his headin shame—your thirst for narrative is satisfiedThe little rabbitis made example of today—see he quivers dying in the demonstrationRead confessionsin the back pages… Continue reading
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Let’s Make A List
I’d like to have a blog post up on Saturday morning, but it’s Friday evening and I’m simply not prepared for that. Mentally, I am just not there; my hamster wheels are slowing to a standstill, the hamsters themselves having reached their limits of exercise. You can see it in my metaphors, I’m simply out… Continue reading
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Enough with this
When I first saw a screencap of the Truth Social post made by Donald Trump, in which he not only demeaned director Rob Reiner following the news that he and his wife had been brutally murdered, but claimed that Reiner’s vocal opposition to Trumpism was the root cause of his death, I didn’t think much… Continue reading
Ink Tea Stone Leaf 