There is a powerful short story, referred to in Fahrenheit 451, called The Pedestrian, by the late great sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury. A man regularly goes for a stroll through the empty streets of a big futuristic metropolis to observe and absorb the world outside his door. One night a robotic patrol car stops him… Continue reading Pedestrian on the Information Highway
Category: Psychology
Fury in the Slaughterhouse: Guns in America
“There’s an old lady, Living in an old house Since her husband died She hasn’t been out. She lives in her own world With her own little nightmares And she’s stopped counting the days. She buys a radio station With her husband’s legacy. She does her own show 10 hours a day Plays poems and… Continue reading Fury in the Slaughterhouse: Guns in America
Saying “Davka” to Power
“In Hebrew, “Davka” is a gruff, one-word response to someone in authority. So in Hebrew you might ask an Israeli teenager “Why are you doing that?” and get the answer “Davka” – Because I chose to, because I want to do it this way rather than any other. Just because. Davka is about expressing determination,… Continue reading Saying “Davka” to Power
Welcome to Customsland
I have friends who just can’t seem to get a break whenever they try and visit faraway places, because when they try to enter these lands, customs deny them entry. One might ask why, because, after all, they are no obvious threat to anyone, have no criminal background, are not a visible minority and they… Continue reading Welcome to Customsland
Hope for the hopeless: Brave new world
It has been suggested that when one writes a blog and hopes to attract attention to it, one should show how reading that blog will benefit the reader and not just the writer. I have, for one person without a fortune, a fairly large library, that has expanded from what I could carry on my… Continue reading Hope for the hopeless: Brave new world
American roulette
As one wanders the world one sees different games played by the locals. For example, the Swiss have the card game Jass (See The cards we’re dealt of this blog.), the Russians love a good game of chess and Americans have a version of gambling, a variation on Russian roulette, an addiction they can’t seem… Continue reading American roulette
Hurrah for Folly-would
Gosh darn it… Why are those “liberals” so hard on “average” citizens? Why do liberals condemn ordinary folks so much for simply wanting to protect their families and homes? I mean, let’s just look at things from our point of view. We all know the surety of things we believe in… – When a white… Continue reading Hurrah for Folly-would
Leave the door open
I often find myself feeling weary and down-hearted when I make the mistake of finding out what is going on in the world outside my own little circle of life. More and more the media seems obsessed with fear-mongering and xenophobia. Fear the stranger. Fear those who are different. Those here by accident of birth… Continue reading Leave the door open
The end of the world as we know it?
According to NASA scientists, an asteroid will do a fly-by in the skies above ol’ Earth next week. These good folks, who have spent decades studying the skies and the stars and everything in between, assure us that there is nothing to worry about and that we are completely safe. Of course, why should we… Continue reading The end of the world as we know it?
Thus endeth the lesson
This coming Monday I will be thinking about a woman I have never met who will teach for the first time my last student whom she has never met. Final lesson of my teaching career until October (and maybe final one of all?) took place yesterday evening. My private student in Weinfelden (See: No smile… Continue reading Thus endeth the lesson