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19. Shock in the Mirror
In a recent rereading of Orwell’s ‘1984’, I found the most chilling passage to be the same one that had left me shivering at the age of sixteen. That is the description of Winston Smith’s first look at himself after prolonged torture. O’Brien, his confessor/torturer, orders him to remove his filthy clothes and step forward…
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18. Poems from a Self-imposed Captivity
I may well have a tin ear for poetry. Yet over the years, I have sporadically tried my hand at writing it. My first attempt was a booklet of poems made at the age of fifteen. The self-illustrated cover depicted a hand clutching towards a thorny rose. The only piece I remember from that effort…
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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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14. A Twisted Tribute to CBC Radio
Among the many despicable plans of the Trump administration is the proposed gutting of American public broadcasting services. The MAGA Republicans charge that PBS and NPR couple bloated budgets with “liberal bias.” Even Big Bird of ‘Sesame Street’ is suspected of being a “woke socialist.” It is not surprising that hard-line conservatives in Canada have…
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Coprolites in Amber (etc.) 