Month: April 2019
You’re More Powerful than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide to Making Change – Eric Liu
The recent imposition of trade tariffs by an obstinate Trump administration and the reciprocating adverse measures announced by his Mexican and Canadian counterparts (with the EU sure to soon follow suit) has not only triggered a global concern about an impending trade war but has also set off a panic whose potential backlash could be … Continue reading You’re More Powerful than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide to Making Change – Eric Liu
Achilles Heel
Strength and confidence at times may turn out to be an Achilles heel A semblance of equilibrium needs a vulnerable feel. (Word Count: 21) Courtesy of Sammi Cox Weekend Writing Prompt#103
Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of a Civilization – Roy Scranton
The 2014 Roadmap on Climate Change Adaptation struck more than just a somber warning when it stated that, “Rising global temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, climbing sea levels, and more extreme weather events will intensify the challenges of global instability, hunger, poverty, and conflict. They will likely lead to food and water shortages, pandemic disease, disputes … Continue reading Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of a Civilization – Roy Scranton
Blake, Huxley, Morrison & Ash
(Photo Credit: Crispina Kemp) Doors. Open and Shut; Heavy and Light. Doors. Comrades; Confidantes; Teachers; Traitors. William Blake found the secret of perception behind one of these. Aldous Huxley gathered the courage to unbolt his, and in addition to the power of perception, discovered the virtues of Heaven and the vice of Hell. Jim Morrison … Continue reading Blake, Huxley, Morrison & Ash
X-Files: The Whirlwind – Charles Grant
New Mexico is flummoxed and ravaged by a sequence of grisly murders. While no motives seemingly can be ascribed to the killings, there is no semblance of doubting the intent. Pure, cold, and terrifying sadism. Every helpless victim is skinned even before he/she is dead. The killer seems to have a sense of clinical impartiality. … Continue reading X-Files: The Whirlwind – Charles Grant
The Perfect Paradise
(PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook) They called it the “Perfect Paradise.” If the confluence of sun, sky and sand made for a horripilation inducing spectacle, the jagged dwarf table top peak exacerbated the effect, although its features made it seem more an eyesore than a majestic manifestation. The locals took to calling it “The Hunchback … Continue reading The Perfect Paradise
Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Lewis Galantière (Translator)
Winner of the Grand Prix of the Academie Francaise, Wind, Sand and Stars is universally acknowledged as one of the most popular books on flying. However to cloister this indispensable Palmarium within the narrow confines of aviation would tantamount to causing absolute injustice, for Exupery’s work is a book on courage, confidence, catharsis and above … Continue reading Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Lewis Galantière (Translator)
The Hip Flask
(Photo Credit: Matt Bowden on Unsplash) Uncorking the top of his reliable hip flask, Venky tilted back his head and in a swift and surreptitious gesture downed a generous swig of Scotch before quickly replacing the lid and putting the flask back to its rightful place. This practiced maneuver was until the past one year not even … Continue reading The Hip Flask
Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
Written by Evelyn Waugh in 1930, “Vile Bodies” is a scathing indictment of a decadent society that ran amok in London during the intervening period between the two World Wars. The excesses indulged in by the ‘bright young’ (as Waugh prefers to address the boisterous and raucous youth) ranged from various bouts of inebriation to … Continue reading Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh