I'm breaking my self-imposed "radio silence" to encourage us to be careful about what we think we know — to paraphrase Mark Twain, "it isn't what we don't know that hurts us, it's what we know that just ain't so". Case in point is "The … [Read more...]

The Saloon Come, enjoy some libations, and talk politics at the first post-truth stammtisch. Our now-regular monthly BMG Stammtisch will happen tonight, the first Wednesday of the month at The Saloon in Davis Square at 7p. Hope to see … [Read more...]

The Saloon Come, enjoy some libations, and talk politics at the first post-truth stammtisch. Our now-regular monthly BMG Stammtisch will happen, as usual, the first Wednesday of the month — 7-December— at The Saloon in Davis Square at … [Read more...]

There has been a lot of talk about "identity politics" since the election, too much of it self-serving complaints from arguably the most privileged demographic in America until it was eaten by its own dragons — working-class white … [Read more...]

Automated toll gantry I realized this holiday, while doing my annual shuttle duty for children arriving and departing Logan airport, that an era truly has ended. The toll plaza at the Callahan tunnel, along with all the others, is dark. … [Read more...]

Donald Trump famously promised, during his campaign, to "drain the swamp" of Washington DC. Various reports like this suggest that he is instead surrounding himself with alligators (emphasis mine): Trump taps into DeVos family to head … [Read more...]

It appears that all the comments have been removed from today's "Frank Talk from Barney" diary, as well as the ability to add comments. Did something break, or was this an editorial decision? While the exchanges were spirited, they … [Read more...]

Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander Thomas Merton wrote (emphasis mine): If we really sought truth we would begin slowly and laboriously to divest ourselves one by one of all our coverings of fiction and delusion: or at least we would … [Read more...]

Industrial plant in Buchanan County, VA. The New York Times yesterday (19-November-2016) published a piece detailing the truth about the future of coal workers. Titled "A Bleak Outlook for Trump's Primises to Coal Miners", it is worth a … [Read more...]

Apologies to the Reverend Richard Burden, who used this text in his sermon last Sunday. “Cheshire Puss,’ Alice began, rather timidly…” “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’ ‘That depends a good deal on … [Read more...]