Category Archives: Musings

Off The Cuff: A Wave of Information

Presenting The CaseYesterday, I was thinking about Revolution in general terms: what it means, what might be the goal of a modern revolution, what tools we have to hand. Today I am thinking we need to break it down a little smaller. Recently, I was arguing with a friend about whether ideology or action are [...]

Off The Cuff: How Do You Start A Revolution?

Presenting The CaseI am thinking a lot about the concept of revolution, these days. At this point, most people in the United States can agree that something has gone terribly wrong. We may disagree about when it started to go that way (my personal contention being “with Teddy Roosevelt”), or how far away from our [...]

The Bad Guy Epidemic

Scaaarrrry!There has been a slowly emerging trend in fiction over the last fifteen years or so. Replacing the simple goodness of protagonists such as King Arthur and the simpleminded goodness of heroines such as Snow White, we have a growing contingent of more complicated, morally ambiguous characters taking center stage in our stories. Dubious heroes [...]

The Kali Principle

Fire DancerA great deal of emphasis is given in our stories to tales of magical creation. Wishes are granted, and the coveted item appears out of thin air. The birth of a child, in many religions, is the beginning of salvation. The creation of a building, or an artifact, or a concrete set of precepts [...]

Staring Into The Abyss

The real thing doesn”t photograph well. You will have to go with my symbolic representation. Pic by me. For some people, it is simply a culmination of small things, over the years, and it is impossible to pinpoint the one that tipped us over. However we get there, most people, sooner or later, find themselves [...]

A Question of Reality

I just searched for “reality”, and I got this. I think Flickr just proved my point… Photo by Paula Iannuzzi. (License: Creative Commons Attribution)We think we know what reality is. Our lives are filled with work, sex, and food that we consider to be real. The processes within your mind, where you categorize the input [...]

The Pervasive Idealism

Hell if I know…it just looked interesting. Photo by Cuspace. (License: Creative Commons Attribution)Of all the labels others have tried to stick to me in my life, there seems to be one that keeps coming around, no matter what face I may choose to wear or what path I am travelling: Idealist. It seems to [...]

The New Battleground: Freedom of Speech

Photo by Miyoko Schmez. (License: Creative Commons Attribution)“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” —First Amendment of [...]