The police first arrived around 9:20 am; the shooting took place around 3 pm. So this wasn't even a full work day's worth of waiting. How much time is a human life worth? And is the life of a black woman with signs of neurological impairment worth less than the life of another citizen? Read more
But on Saturday, with no warning or prelude the Tiber rose 12 or 15 feet, sweeping cars along and shattering the road itself. At the bottom of the hill the Patapsco itself rose up 14 feet to overflow its banks and tear the steel railings off the bridge that crosses it. Assessment of the damage is still ongoing, but twenty to thirty buildings along Main Street are said to have significant damage and four or five to be completely destroyed. At least two people were killed; rumor is that many others are still unaccounted for. Read more
It is a bit of an orphan holiday. Yule, of course, has a big celebration in Western cultures, and Samhain filters into Halloween a little. Litha, the great solar day, is near Father's Day and the last day of school. Beltane gets some love in folk culture ("Hooray, hooray, the first of May..."), and even Imbolc gets Groundhog Day. The equinoxes at least get a mention by TV meteorologists and science popularizes. But Lammas kind of stands alone. Maybe that's why I've found myself drawn to consider it more carefully the past few years. Read more
And this illustrates why the most urgent matter in 2016 is not to put Clinton or Trump in the White House, or to block Trump or Clinton from winning. It's to break open the two-party system. This is the year the American political system hits bottom. We can start the recovery and healing, but only if we first admit how our behavior has led us to ruin and vow to take positive steps to reform. Read more
Magicians, and progeny the scientists, have always taken themselves and their subject in an orderly and sober manner, thereby disregarding an essential metaphysical balance. When magicians learn to approach philosophy as a malleable art instead of an immutable Truth, and learn to appreciate the absurdity of man's endeavours, then they will be able to pursue their art with a lighter heart, and perhaps gain a clearer understanding of it, and therefore gain more effective magic. CHAOS IS ENERGY. Read more
So this razor has been up against my face (and occasionally other body parts) for over two decades. It's helped me get ready for dates and job interviews. But it finally got dropped one too many times and broke. And as I contemplate replacing it, I find that I'm actually sad about it, I've gotten attached to this stupid little bit of metal and plastic. Read more
After Israel's invasion of Lebanon he used a remarkable excuse for his silence: "I am not Israeli, I am a Diaspora Jew, and the price I pay, the price I chose to pay for not living in Israel, especially in times of danger, is not to criticize Israel from outside its borders." Later, after the First Intifada, he said "In personal terms: I refuse to see myself in the role of judge over Israel. The role of the Jew is to bear witness; not to pass judgment." Read more
There is a fundamental confusion at work in many people's notions about their identity: that allowing other people the right to explore their selves, including areas that may overlap with your self-notion, somehow degrades your own right to explore and define yourself. And so others must be excluded from certain self-identifications or actions. Read more
And only then did I realize that these guys intent on working themselves into a fight had suddenly been disrupted by a guy in a ridiculous top hat. Maybe that's why they seemed less belligerent toward me than I often find in these situations. Read more
"I'm sorry that you've come all this way to see me, and I have nothing to give you," he told the burglar. "Here. Take this." And Ryōkan gave the burglar his robe, the very clothes off his back. Read more
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