Category Archives: Commentary

Opinion or analysis concerning whatever’s on my mind.

Brice Marden Believed Looking at Paintings Could Be Transporting

Posted on January 28, 2024 by JMN

Again and again, he showed that art from any time or culture was contemporary and alive, if it offered artists something they could use. (Roberta Smith) Brice Marden died in August 2023, aged 84. The illustration that concludes Roberta Smith’s … Continue reading →

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‘Blaise Cendrars (1887-1961): Poetry Is Everything’

Posted on January 21, 2024 by JMN

This piece clipped back in August 2023 reminded me of my youthful infatuation with the School of Paris, which included the Delaunays, Sonia and Robert, as well as Fernand Léger. The article’s appeal lies as well in the matchup of … Continue reading →

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Just Say Right, It’s Only Weather

Posted on January 17, 2024 by JMN

As long as the nation’s fleet of private jets can take to the skies there’s no call to whine about so-called climate (the Dems’ name for weather). There’s a right way to think about it, just do a thought experiment. … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged | 1 Comment

Epistemic Hubris: Unwarranted Certainty (About Complex Issues)

Posted on January 15, 2024 by JMN

Greek words are a nerd’s downfall. I’m a nerd, therefore felled by epistemic hubris. Whenever I encounter “epistemic,” as in Maggie Jackson’s essay, I have to mentally re-solder its connection to epistemology, which I barely retain has to do with … Continue reading →

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Robert Andrew Parker (1927-2023): ‘Susceptibility to Happiness’

Posted on January 13, 2024 by JMN

What’s not to like about an artist-illustrator who partnered with poets and loved jazz? Parker played drums in a band called Jive by Five and is survived by five sons, all of whom play drums professionally. (One is an artist.) … Continue reading →

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We’ve Dealt With Earth. Let’s Go Fix Mars

Posted on December 30, 2023 by JMN

(c) 2023 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

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There’s So Much to Be Said for Saying Less

Posted on December 8, 2023 by JMN

Quoth the raven, “Never mind.” (pace Poe) Afterword I’m copious and so are you. (From Cowpunk by Diane Seuss in Poetry, December 2023) (c) 2023 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

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A Defense of Women Via Sarcastic Tirade Meaning the Opposite of What It Purports to Affirm

Posted on December 2, 2023 by JMN

[Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice ironic bloviation. The message buried in a made-up rant full of ludicrous rhetoric (posted previously) is that the assertion “It never happened,” or that an encounter was “consensual,” implies … Continue reading →

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The Deep-Rooted Mendacity of the Weaker Sex

Posted on November 29, 2023 by JMN

Swaggart. Trump. Weinstein. Epstein. Windsor. Brand. Rose… the list goes on. When will such men be spared the allegations of conniving women? It’s the one time the word “liaress,” feminine of “liar,” would be a useful addition to the language. … Continue reading →

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Love the Beasts

Posted on November 17, 2023 by JMN

“Fauve painting is not everything,… but it is the foundation of everything.” (Matisse) I have an affinity for the stripe of painting perpetrated by the Fauves. Their manic attack with brush and pigment gestures offhandedly toward trees, water and sky. … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | 6 Comments