Archive for 2014
Thanks, Butch. It’s real white of you
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#692) Thanks, Butch. It’s real white of you by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — I’ve been a bleeding heart since second grade. That was when, as I peered between the lines of dogmatic drivel in the Baltimore Catechism, it dawned on me that Jesus was the original Christian.…
Read MoreIf you don’t buy this war, we’ll kill this dog
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#691) If you don’t buy this war, we’ll kill this dog by David Benjamin “The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. ‘Off with his head!’ she said, without even looking round.” — Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland MADISON, Wis. — With…
Read MoreThe next Bill of Rights: A few suggestions
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#690) The next Bill of Rights: A few suggestions by David Benjamin PARIS — One of the charms of a few weeks among our French friends is hearing them bellyache about the government. Not ours. Theirs! They gripe about weak leadership, legislative gridlock, a chaotic and divisive party…
Read More“… I’ll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours”
FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#689) “… I’ll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours” by David Benjamin PARIS — Friend Steve, visiting Paris from rural Japan, posed the thesis that the Tea Party movement in the U.S. is a spent force. I replied that with southern governors…
Read MoreA cozy evening in the urban shell
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#688) A cozy evening in the urban shell by David Benjamin “Paris is devine. I mean Dorothy and I got to Paris yesterday, and it really is devine. Because the French are devine.” — Anita Loos, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes PARIS — This city is a little like operating…
Read MoreCollateral damage in the war against Amazon
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#687) Collateral damage in the war against Amazon by David Benjamin “Thank you for thinking of us and reaching out for a book event. Unfortunately we will have to decline as it is our company policy not to schedule events for any Amazon/CreateSpace titles. If, at some point…
Read MoreThe unbearable irrelevance of reading
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#686) The unbearable irrelevance of reading by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — Nobody reads. This is a shattering admission for a writer to make, and as of the moment, it’s a slight overstatement. Think of those two words as a mixture of prophecy and surrender — with a…
Read MoreMy rights are bigger than your rights
MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#685) My rights are bigger than your rights by David Benjamin “In recent decisions, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court has made clear its view that corporations are people, with all the attendant rights. They are entitled to free speech… They are entitled to religious beliefs… Up…
Read MoreThe semantic conundrum of the war in Ukraine
MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#684) The semantic conundrum of the war in Ukraine by David Benjamin “I haven’t got a brain… only straw.” — Scarecrow, The Wizard of Oz MADISON, Wis. — War is always more about semantics than ideas. This principle applies bleakly to the mess in eastern Ukraine, where an…
Read MoreOink
WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#683) Oink by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — Thanks to the Supreme Court’s recent anti-contraception decision, in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, which enshrines in American Constitutional law the novel notion that corporations are not only persons but they’re also, well… holy, we finally have a literary parallel for…
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