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Missed Chances — a short story
There are joys that long to be ours. God sends ten thousand truths which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away. — Henry Ward Beecher “Are you okay?” “I’m … […]
Posted in: Fiction, Religion & Philosophy
The Last One to Be Killed — a short story
June 2, 2019
There really are those who are willing to make poor people worse off in order to make rich people worse off. — Ronald Bailey “I still don’t get it. Why am I to be executed?” “They don’t need you anymore.” “But that’s crazy! I’ve been their friend for years. I financed their revolution. Without me, […]
Reparations — a short story
May 20, 2019
You don’t right the wrongs of the past by wronging the people of the present. ― Phil Valentine Once we start down the road to reparations, every minority will want a piece of the action. — Quippy Dear Senator Cory Booker: Thank you for introducing a Senate bill to form a commission to study the […]
Ultimate War Games
March 17, 2019
To delight in war is a merit in the soldier, a dangerous quality in the captain, and a positive crime in the statesman. — George Santayana It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it. — Robert E. Lee When I was a kid in the turbulent 1960s, […]
Why We’re Stuck with Polarization
March 3, 2019
I will now perform a magic trick using only words. They will appear on your screen as a complete, grammatically correct sentence with proper syntax and a clear meaning. AND YET … You will be unable to remember it! First, some background: Deep in the ancient past, humans lived in small tribal groups, hunting and […]
Posted in: Politics, Society & Culture
Quippy on a Soapbox
January 20, 2019
The Quip Monster dropped by the office the other day, took over a desk, commandeered a laptop, and began typing away, claws clicking. He kept taking swigs from a flask, spilled some on a stack of papers, burped and growled a lot, then got up and waddled off. We looked at the laptop and found […]
Humor or Bullying?
January 6, 2019
I was chatting with a friend who was a bit tense over a possible love interest. Trying to get him to laugh, I made a raunchy comment about the woman — couched in terms that made fun of me, not her, but still risqué — and he got upset. Oops. Later he told me he […]
Posted in: Humor, Society & Culture
God in the Eyes
December 23, 2018
Out of nothing I have created a strange new universe. — Janos Bolyai Is there a God? I have no idea. But if there is one, He (or She or It) ought to be really, really impressive. The standard God who watches the Game Board of the Universe and occasionally moves some of the pieces, is so … so … human. And that’s a […]
Posted in: Humor, Religion & Philosophy
The Genie Problem
November 25, 2018
It would be much better to call a halt in material progress and discovery rather than to be mastered by our own apparatus and the forces which it directs. — Winston Churchill In the debate about Artificial Intelligence — will it be a good thing? Will it bring destruction? — there’s a big divide between […]
Posted in: Science & Technology
Prevail
November 18, 2018
All my misfortunes have been my honored teachers. — anon. Sometimes bad things hit you in waves. First an election goes badly for your side. Then your favorite night spot gets shot up by a madman, and people you know are murdered for no reason. Then fires break out around the city and you must […]
Posted in: Religion & Philosophy, Society & Culture
I Lost Her at the Voting Booth — a short story
November 4, 2018
Insanity in individuals is something rare, but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs, it is the rule. — Friedrich Nietzsche Politics can be hard on relationships. Take me, for instance. I had a girlfriend who broke up with me on Election Day. We’d been together only a few weeks. Already some of her stuff was […]
The Perfect Face — a short story
October 28, 2018
Where there is perfection there is no story to tell. — Ben Okri “Hey, sweetie, long time! Glad you could make it.” “Thanks for inviting me. How long has it been?” “Since college.” “That long? Well, it’s great to see you in person, not just on Facebook. And you look beautiful.” “Thank you. Getting enough […]
Signs of the Late Republic
October 21, 2018
History never repeats itself but it rhymes. — John Robert Colombo In 133 BC, Tiberius Gracchus, leader of the Roman Assembly, tried to enact land reform to help the poor cope with an unfair economic system. His fellow tribune, Marcus Octavius, vetoed the plan. Push turned to shove, and Gracchus’s henchmen dragged Octavius from […]
Posted in: Politics
The Billionaire Soirée — a short story
September 30, 2018
A man of financial wealth who values himself by his financial net worth is poorer than a poor man who values himself by his intrinsic self worth. — Sydney Madwed Shortly after I made my first billion, I got invited to a very swank, exclusive party. All the invitees were billionaires. This would be a […]
The Civilized War
September 9, 2018
There are some who turn everything into warfare, who … would like to conquer others in everything they do. They have no idea how to live peaceably. — Baltasar Gracián We have met the enemy and he is us. — Pogo The Aztecs — who ruled a vast territory in the manner of the Roman […]
Posted in: Politics
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