Category: Politics
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17. Away from the Screens and into the Street?
I have always believed that hardening of arteries is far less dreadful than the narrowing of the mind. As a septuagenarian, I’ve tried to resist the creeping conservativism too often typical of advancing years. While no raging grandpa, I like to think that through the decades, my politics have tilted evermore leftward. Still, I increasingly…
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16. A Grave Matter of Conscience
I had hoped that ‘Notes on Exodus and Exile’ (April 2024), would be the last reflections on the Israel/Palestine conflict I would post on this site. I had thought there was nothing to add. But in the deepening horrors of the last few months, no other global issue has more heavily weighed on my mind……
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15. Apollo 11: Flashbacks and Jump-cuts
In the visually stunning non-narrative documentary, ‘Koyaanisqatsi’ (1982), a Saturn 5 rocket is shown blasting off in slow motion. Against doom-like organ chords of the Philip Glass score, white flakes of insulation are shown drifting down through swirling fire. The title of the film translates as ‘world out of balance’ from the language of the…
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13. A Spotty Maple Leaf
1 February 15th 2025 marked sixty years since the first raising of the red and white maple leaf as Canada’s official flag. Of the 24% of Canadians who are old enough to remember that day–– probably very few do. Those whose memories stretch back sixty years or earlier are more likely to recall the controversy…
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12. The Right Side of History?
In just three months, the harm wrought by the Trump administration has already surpassed the most pessimistic forecasts before his re-election. Never in living memory have the worst American tendencies been so unrestrained. Amid the shock and awe of the Project 2025 juggernaut–– never has the political opposition been so feeble. Never has American media,…
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11. Acknowledging a Shared Humanity
A recent CNN interview did not pry any answers from the architect of Trump’s draconian deportation plan–– but it did reveal his character. Throughout the interview, Stephen Miller dodged questions, talked over the host and smirked. In response to Jake Tapper’s repeated queries about the impact of mass deportation on US agriculture––Miller claimed that the…
Coprolites in Amber (etc.) 