No More Phoning the Czar Until Further Notice

| March 2, 2022

Pursuant to the shenanigans and goings on in eastern Europe, effective immediately and until further notice, the Management will discontinue use of the well worn term “phoning the czar” as a euphemism for masturbation, as well as for all purposes up to and including actually phoning anyone bearing, or laying claim to, that epithet.

Hue and Cry

| February 13, 2022

“As I have watched Justin Trudeau flummox his way through his time as Prime Minister of Canada, now highlighted by his leadership of the government in the face of the current pandemic crisis, he has done nothing to change my impression of him as a creature of pure ego and ideology, at least insofar as […]

Life Imitating Art in the Time of COVID

| February 5, 2022

Speaking for myself, the older I get, the more often I run into events and situations that get me thinking along the metaphorical lines of, “I’ve seen this movie before.” Unless you’ve since decided to dig the proverbial hole that’s to crawl into and pull in behind, you’ll know that the past days of building […]

The Illusion of Truth — Introduction

| January 23, 2022

Of all the developments I have observed arising out of this noble experiment in “authoritarianism lite” currently in vogue, I find most onerous the politicization of science down to its very foundations. In this, it can daily be found subverting mathematics, medicine, epidemiology, microbiology, and every other field of study wherein an “expert” may be […]

No Bunker For You

| January 22, 2022

Dotted across the world, relics of the Cold War, are edifices deeply delved wherein would shelter members of governments whose mishandling of events had brought their nations to the brink, and thence across the threshold of nuclear Armageddon. Built in the belief that they and their failed leadership would still have value when the radioactive […]

Troubleshooting 102 — The (Semi) Final Exam

| December 12, 2021

“While I can identify broader causes for the problems we’ve looked at today, they are, I believe, irrelevant to the problem under discussion for which the resolution will only be found when thinking on the pandemic becomes less linear and more systems oriented, something highlighted when the CBC article says of Dr. Croskerry, ‘He expects […]

Troubleshooting 101

| November 28, 2021

“There’s an old saying — “Safe as houses” — usually spoken in reference to situations that were anything but safe, but not always. There have forever been people who lived their lives in a wide eyed and blissful belief there can be some place where pain and death won’t find you. “Enter the “safe space” […]

Quo Vadis Weihnachtsjäger?

| November 7, 2021

It is quite rightly said that the best way to hear the Gods laugh is to speak one’s plans aloud, and that Great Truth was amply demonstrated by what ensued after these words appeared here on the first day of Dark Sentiments Season 12: “I must tell you however that this season will be a […]

Dark Sentiments Season 12 — Day 1: Another Gathering

| October 1, 2021

Welcome back Goode Survivor to this, our dozenth season of Dark Sentiments! As usual, we meet tonight under a cloud of existential uncertainty, and what of it? We all know the ultimate in packing light is to simply bring the best of yourself, and besides, isn’t this what we’ve been preparing and training ourselves for […]

Winds of Change — Part the Sixth — Epilogue

| August 21, 2021

In this sixth and final breeze from the Winds of Change, we’re going to spool up the Irish pennants left dangling by what we’ve blown past you so far. You will recall that I opened the first episode of this series with a quote from the Esteemed Master At Arms James Albert (Jim) Keating that […]