Notes From The Shack

There’s Something Happening Here

Reflections on Week Five

Trip-Wire

Reflections on Week Three

For most of us, myself included, there can come a time during an argument when we realize we’ve maneuvered ourselves into an impossible stance, when we’ve stretched the facts, found ourselves defending positions we don’t believe, twisted…

Otesánek

A Czech Parable of Fascism

Once upon a time there was a small village, and in that village lived a humble farmer and his wife. And to this couple one happy day there was born a son. They named him Otesánek. The farmer and his wife were very happy. Otesánek was a fat…

Our New Order

Reflections on Week Two

Time for a reality check. Set aside the increasingly ordinary insanity of this past week: Trump’s ranting phone calls with the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Australia, Iran’s being put on notice for an attack that never…

The Zombie Presidency

You don’t need to know much about zombies to know that they’re, a) nasty, and, b) persistent. The first point is obvious; the second, instructive. They just keep coming. Individually unimpressive, relatively easy to deal with — Just bash ’em in the head! — they overwhelm by sheer force of…