Helping The Donald choose
Donald Trump has been all over the news for weeks. However, one thing that hasn’t been the subject of speculation—yet—is his choice for vice-presidential running mate. So how about we help him out a bit? Before we do, we have to accept that there are different techniques for running mate selection and depending on which […]
Our front door
April 1, April 2, 2016. Less than one block away from our front door, a brutal sexual assault was reported to have taken place on Friday night/early Saturday morning. While most of us were comfortably ensconced in our homes, the victim was fighting, for her life, in our community. The female victim, seriously injured, was […]
Big Papi
David Américo Ortiz Arias has made it clear that he will play baseball in 2016, and no longer. With that in mind, the powersthat- be in the offices of MLB have decided that they will provide “Big Papi” with a victory lap around the track. As he plays his way through the stadia of the […]
Witnesses and victims
Victims, in the real world, are not innocent. They are as flawed as any other person. They are just as likely to do things they’re ashamed of. Make mistakes. Lie. They are just as prone to humiliation and shame. It makes it easy to fall into the trap of victim-blaming. I’m sure we’ve all been […]
Taste test
Depending on the restaurant and its wine list, ordering wine can be daunting and fraught with anxiety. Some restaurants might list their wines by varietal and origin, whilst others might list by price, allowing the guest to decide on a wine within a specific price range. In either case, your server is familiar with the […]
Please send flowers
Maybe it has to do with waiting for the sunrise; this morning from my shack out back; the copper sky over tarnished headlands; the expanse of horizon unfolding to the day. A sky that reaches beyond the arc of earth, and with open arms it greets the sun. I’ll bet that if I could beam […]
The MEOW response
You may be a climate change skeptic, but you had to admire the gutsiness of our political leaders when they met to address climate change issues shortly after the Paris accords and agreed that they were going to have to agree upon something, sometime soon, and that it would require money. That was an auspicious […]
Two men and the women they hurt
Rob and Jian. As my friend Candice said, “The discussions and outcomes surrounding the lives of Rob Ford and Jian Ghomeshi are polarizing.” Not too many people can stand back and say they think either one of these men were saints. They weren’t. In Ghomeshi’s case, he isn’t. In the very public media history of […]
The allure of retroville
One of the reasons I moved to Wellington several years ago was to find a simpler life. And by and large, it’s worked. I don’t have to waste my time worrying about which drugstore or bank to use. But it could be simpler still. How so? I’m thinking about the relentless march of technological change. […]
Not terrified
Well, it happened again. Some people, hoping to stir up goodness knows what, used explosives to destroy lives and landmarks in a peaceful city. It’s tragic. It is every time this happens. Violence always is, and especially when lives are lost and those who survive are left to cope. Anyone who has not personally experienced […]