Hello my friends – here’s the latest episode of “Hard Truth and a Big Hug”. It’s a small part of a book that I haven’t yet got around to publishing – but I thought the big ideas and the final take-away were
“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”― Carl Gustav Jung I am actually a very cheerful, interested, friendly and enthusiastic guy – so I do sometimes pause and ask myself whether my central theme is
Hey folks – just wanted to let all of my loyal readers know I am now (also) writing on substack. Check it out here. You can bookmark the site itself here and read it any time. But if you sign-up, you get
I have written many times about our strange ability to pretend away the malign dominance over human affairs of the military industrial congressional investor complex, and I’ve also mentioned some of the curious ways in which technology has begun to distort human
The self-designating popular groupings which now call themselves “left” and “right” are beyond incoherent. No unified vision, understanding, principle or program in sight. This sad reality has already been quite conclusively proven to anyone eccentric and determined enough to insist upon reading
(plumbers, technicians, mechanics, contractors and all reality-based retail service workers too) I am a book nut with a lifelong passion for music, visual art and writing – essentially creative and romantic by nature. But I am also a guy who had zero
Too Clever by Multiples (top image) I am a little bit nuts and have never denied it, so I expect today’s especially elaborate (and hopefully amusing) proof of that will come as no surprise to anyone. On the other hand, I am
Hello my far flung and wonderfully wide-ranging friends, new and old, and hello to my somewhat grumpier listeners also – I sincerely hope this podcast will surprise you with new perspectives, unexpected fair mindedness and interesting insights, despite my unapologetically strong (and
Hey, what do you know? Right in the middle of an unwholesome national festival of Schadenfreude (pleasure in other people’s suffering) about our neighbours’ absolutely insane, and yet also hilariously pathetic politics, Canada up and finds a way to prove that politically,
I must admit that when I say it simply, it still sounds like a silly bit of dinner party wit, even to me, but I actually was part of a socialist comics collective way back in the late 1980s (my early twenties).
Hello folks – time for some full-strength politics once again! It is such a strange moment right now – I’d really like to be able to link directly to my most passionate friends on the right, middle and left and ask them
What is reality, really? This is one of those strangely tricky questions humans have been asking for a very long time. On an emotional level we often feel as if the answer should be obvious, or at least very clear and stable
Hello friends! I am overjoyed to announce my latest book – Stymie and Toffel – a whimsical Toronto tale of dystopian uplift for older kids and especially imaginative adults, with 19 superb illustrations by Andrew (Rewfoe) Foerster, has finally arrived, is utterly
Image from the brilliant game artists at Ubisoft Montreal(the startlingly beautiful – Assassin’s Creed: Origins – to be specific) There are a few tough themes which I have been working on steadily ever since I was a teenager, but I have to
Hello my friends – time for a podcast once again. Afghanistan is the subject of the hour – but I haven’t heard a single word said yet, which reflects context or memory. Never in my own living memory has the professional news
Here’s an example of a very old idea with clear sharp modern relevance. The idea comes from Rumi’s father Bahauddin (apologies to my Persian friends if I got that wrong – spelling varies here for almost all of the greats). Very little
Loring, by Wyle (top photo) One of the biggest problems with so many oversimplifying explanations of how society ‘really’ works is that these theories always seem to leave out one of the most interesting and important parts of any society – its
Simple sigh, man. Are you done yet, dad? Can we go now, dad? (top photo) Had a nice Six K jaunt today – and though I turned my ankle twice (not at all normal), my main distance-walking muscles felt absolutely delighted to
Who is a rebel – what is the system? What is oppressive conformity, and what is heroic resistance? Where is corruption? Who and what holds real power? When is knowledge dangerous, who gets to decide? How free are we really willing to
Reopening and vaccinated at last. It is time to get the world-engaging side of my productivity-engine chugging again. So I’ve been cleaning out the boiler, checking gaskets, reviewing supplies of coal and water on hand and scouting new tracks, routes and customers.
Top photo – One part Osiris, two parts Horus Hello my friends, time for another podcast. This time some ideas about how we all got here, to this rather fraught moment. By ‘we’ I often mean western civilization in general, but I