Tag Archives: miscellaneous

Native ‘Son’

Posted on April 16, 2021 by JMN

A chance juxtaposition of readings* has suggested to me the perennial nature of America’s brutish policing streak. In 1941, Richard Wright’s manuscript novel “The Man Who Lived Underground” is rejected by publishers who are made queasy over scenes of violence: … Continue reading →

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And the Winner Is… Loss Vegas

Posted on April 5, 2021 by JMN

“The vast majority of MLMs [multi-level marketing companies like Amway and Ambit] are recruiting MLMs, in which participants must recruit aggressively to profit. Based on available data from the companies themselves, the loss rate for recruiting MLMs is approximately 99.9%; … Continue reading →

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The ‘Open-(Ahem)’

Posted on March 31, 2021 by JMN

The polite, socially acceptable name by which it’s currently known is the medlar. But for the best part of 900 years, the fruit was called the “open-arse” – thought to be a reference to the appearance of its own large … Continue reading →

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Prey for Miracles

Posted on February 27, 2021 by JMN

… What we saw in Texas is… a doom loop of climate polarization, where climate crises lead, paradoxically, to a politics that’s more desperate for fossil fuels, more dismissive of international or even interstate cooperation. Cooperation is humanity’s superpower, and … Continue reading →

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A Whiff of Wittgenstein

Posted on February 25, 2021 by JMN

“For a healthy politics to flourish it needs reference points outside itself — reference points of truth and a conception of the common good… When everything becomes political, that is the end of politics.” Making everything politics “totally distorts your … Continue reading →

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Lone Star State of Mind

Posted on February 23, 2021 by JMN

… Millions of Texans whose health and finances were already battered by a year of Covid-19 now face a grinding recovery from a storm estimated to cost upward of $20 billion, the costliest in state history… Texas is roughly the … Continue reading →

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Fossilism Flatulence

Posted on February 22, 2021 by JMN

The Great Texas Freeze (February 14-20, 2021) triggered a noisome toxic fart from the crippled state’s fossil gut. The five largest refiners emitted nearly 337,000lb of pollutants, including benzene, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide, according to preliminary data … Continue reading →

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Title Alert. Who Is Which?

Posted on February 19, 2021 by JMN

The ear was pricked by news that the Duke of Edinburgh was in hospital. Her Majesty is being kept closely apprised. The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall are on the scene. (The Duke of York’s whereabouts is presently unreported.) The … Continue reading →

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The Sin of Conscience (Having One)

Posted on February 17, 2021 by JMN

Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania is one of 7 Republican senators who voted to convict the former president during his impeachment trial. Toomey has said he will not run for reelection in 2022. “We did not send him there to … Continue reading →

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Reading God’s Mind

Posted on February 16, 2021 by JMN

“Oh my, what a disappointment you are to us and to God!” said the letter, addressed to Kinzinger, the word “disappointment” underlined three times and “God” underlined once, according to the version published by the Times. “You go against your … Continue reading →

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