Category: Publishing

On this Memorial Day, as we think about the veterans who risked and in many cases sacrificed their lives in the fight against fascism, it is critically important to recognize that that fight has not yet been won. Book bannings, book burnings, assaults against immigrants and members of other minority groups, and the distortion or outright falsification of history in school curricula have reached unprecedented levels. Those veterans, whose numbers include my father and two of my uncles, didn’t risk their lives fighting fascism overseas so it could be brought in at home. Sad to say, that’s exactly what appears to be happening.

So long as it is Biden vs. Trump again, it’s just another reprise of Hindenburg vs. Hitler. To prevent this from happening, Biden needs to rule himself out of the race, and the Democrats need to nominate someone at least 15-20 years younger and more dynamic. Preferably a woman.

“Conventional wisdom dictates that I should. . .” does not equate to “I have to.” Success during one’s post-labour-force years–note that I don’t say “retirement years”–depends in large measure on one’s ability to recognize and live by this simple but important distinction.

Re: The U.S. Mid-Terms

Could have been worse.

T. S. Eliot had it wrong when he said “April is the cruelest month.” That distinction belongs to November; the suicide statistics are there to prove it.

The party that doesn’t stand for something will quickly become the party that no one can stand.

Politics, American Style

The best lack all conviction; the worst have multiple convictions.

More crickets today on Jacques-Cartier. Not as loud or insistent as yesterday’s crickets–but still crickets. . .on a day nearly halfway from the fall equinox to the winter solstice. Will they still be here for Guy Fawkes Day?

Observing the intense enthusiasm displayed by the Philadelphia Phillies’ fans, and listening to their at times deafening din as their team wiped the floor with the Houston Astros, 7-0, I actually started to feel sorry for Houston. For them to enter the Phillies’ stadium is a bit like a Roman gladiator entering the arena. Neither can be sure they will leave alive.

If Houston doesn’t win at least one of the next two games, it will not be leaving Philadelphia alive, so to speak. As one of the many colorful placards in the stadium proclaimed, “Houston, we have a problem.” Indeed.

Who’d have thunk it?