Randy | February 22, 2015
The involvement of Canada’s military services in the open warfare that has flourished since the events of 11 September 2001 has led to an unsurprising and historically inevitable outcome: Healthy people are dispatched on the mission. Some come back fine, some die before the end of their tour, while still others come back broken. Wars […]
Randy | February 21, 2015
The Schooner Courtesan (A ribald shanty) By LFM The schooner Courtesan was fast, A spirited ride was she! An’ if ye’d fain be named “a ride”, Well, that’s the kind to be! “Voluptuous” can scarce describe, Nor “pulchritude” befit, The goode ship’s naked figurehead, Both legs wrapped ’round the ‘sprit! Her back was arched, her […]
Randy | February 16, 2015
“Humans, like metals, are malleable, and you can deform a sheet of metal with hammer-blows and then tap it out flat again. But any metallurgist will assure you that the whole sheet has changed, and only melting it down and rolling it again will undo it.” ~ Freedom & Necessity, Steven Brust & Emma Bull […]
Randy | January 31, 2015
Archaeological evidence suggests that we Humans of today owe our success as a species to the forging long ago of a wondrously strategic alliance – comradeship with the ancestors of that most noble thing called the Dog. Alas, the benefit of that linkage has not served our four legged counterpart so well, but that is […]
Randy | January 18, 2015
Blasphemy Noun (plural blasphemies) The action or offence of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk: he was detained on charges of blasphemy. Two incidents of punishment for “blasphemy” have been in the news of late – one meted out by judicial decision of a Saudi Arabian court against blogger Raif Badawi who […]
Randy | January 8, 2015
In his 9 December 2014 article, How Ernest Shackleton can help world address climate change, Paul Kennedy wrote: A hundred years ago, Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton failed — in absolutely spectacular fashion. But some believe the way he turned failure into a historic triumph is inspiration for world leaders dealing with the crisis of climate […]
Randy | December 31, 2014
To speak of the Warrior Path is to conjure images of life and death. Of strife and struggle. Of blades and guns and martial skill directed toward a goal of death and destruction. But as the Warrior walks the Path, it will soon become clear that if his reason for being there is to subjugate […]
Randy | December 30, 2014
The past calendar year has been a cacophonous clamour overshadowed by ominous storm clouds. It spawned this. A Parable By LFM The Horsemen four we’re taught to fear, The “quiet ones” we’re told to ward, But hearken not the storm crow’s cry, That seeks to blunt both wits and sword. The children of Apocalypse […]
Randy | December 29, 2014
The season of Yule, wherever and however it may be observed, is one festooned with traditions, not least of which are those affecting food. My own heritage comes from German and English influences, and since my blessed induction into the Polish fold, the flood gates have truly opened! Celebrations and observances surrounding the Winter Solstice […]
Randy | December 26, 2014
2014 is coming to its conclusion in a whirlwind of blood and hate that shows every likelihood of staining much of the world for some time to come. Of course, this doesn’t make 2014 particularly unique because there has never been a time in recorded history during which you couldn’t find, at any given moment, […]