Monthly Archives: August 2018

Notes on Hell

Posted on August 12, 2018 by JMN

Flight has been prominent in my life. Not the aerial kind but the fleeing kind. I vaguely recall that Sartre’s play “Huis Clos” (No Exit) ends with several people enclosed in a room condemned for all eternity to talk at … Continue reading →

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You’re a kind ear, Joe.

Posted on August 11, 2018 by JMN

I hope I don’t wear you out with my musings. Poetry is there when you need it. It seems to rise to the occasion when nothing else will do. It concentrates the mind and the emotions, like scripture. Poets get … Continue reading →

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Maruja Mallo

Posted on August 11, 2018 by JMN

Even within artistic circles, these women were often excluded or treated as muses to male creative genius (Dalí once described Mallo as “half angel, half shellfish”). Their work, however, insists on a different story. Mallo — who never married and … Continue reading →

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From the Jargon Log: “strategically inconsequential”

Posted on August 11, 2018 by JMN

ABC News, 8-10-18 — “Another failed attempt by Taliban to seize terrain, while creating strategically inconsequential headlines,” U.S. Forces-Afghanistan tweeted. [Footnote: More than 2,200 Americans have died in Afghanistan since 2001.] [Copyright (c) 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.]

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“The Odds”

Posted on August 10, 2018 by JMN

The Odds If you’re a person given to gambling, What odds would you lay on the following: A grizzled dude straddling his big Harley Presents his better half as his “old lady”? His better half (who sports a lovely tan) … Continue reading →

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WWE

Posted on August 10, 2018 by JMN

According to the bullhorns and depending on the year, America’s military campaigns abroad would satisfy justice, displace tyrants, keep violence away from Western soil, spread democracy, foster development, prevent sectarian war, protect populations, reduce corruption, bolster women’s rights, decrease the … Continue reading →

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Hopeful Road Map

Posted on August 10, 2018 by JMN

“But a hopeful road map to humanism’s recovery might include variations on those older themes. First, a return of serious academic interest in the possible (I would say likely) truth of religious claims. Second, a regained sense of history as … Continue reading →

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Wikipediaphilia

Posted on August 9, 2018 by JMN

It’s a boon to have fingertip access to all knowledge. I can quote from the Critique of Pure Reason hands down. But many times another person pivots continually to smart phone in order to referee a fact fight during just … Continue reading →

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With This Facebook Like, I Hereby Acknowledge That You Got Married | The New Yorker

Posted on August 8, 2018 by JMN

Jeremiah Budin offers a humorous explanation of why wedding photos get so many Facebook likes. — Read on http://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/with-this-facebook-like-i-hereby-acknowledge-that-you-got-married

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From the Jargon Log: “negative treatment”

Posted on August 8, 2018 by JMN

NYTimes, 8-6-18 — Under Israeli law, the prime minister alone is authorized to approve an assassination operation, euphemistically known as “negative treatment” within the Mossad. [Copyright (c) 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.]

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