Upcoming Events:
Thursday, 22 August, 1 pm
Book Talk, “Why Books?”, Fitchburg Community Center, 5510 Lacy Rd., Fitchburg, Wis.
Thursday, 19 September, 6:30 pm
Book Talk, “Why Books, and Why This Book?”, Oregon Public Library, 200 N. Alpine Parkway, Oregon, Wis.
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The Weekly Screed
Oh, Susanna, now don’t you lie to me by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — Thanks to my wife, the hotshot high-tech journalist, I get to crash parties where I don’t belong. For me, “the turd in the punchbowl” isn’t just a grace note. It’s my red badge of impertinence. So, there I was — without…
Read More...Lying about history, to our children by David Benjamin “… Soviet pressure against the free institutions of the Western world is something that can be contained by the adroit and vigilant application of counterforce at a series of constantly shifting geographical and political points, corresponding to the shifts and manoeuvers of Soviet policy, but which…
Read More...This country is condemned by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — When I was twelve, the apartment I shared with Mom, my sister and my brother was condemned — officially — by the town’s building inspector. We were in the rear unit above the S&Q Hardware on Superior Avenue, and people weren’t supposed to be living…
Read More...The Futuremobile takes charge by David Benjamin BORDEAUX, France — The development of driver-optional “autonomous” automobiles, all the rage at the ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) World Congress, has begun to haunt me with premonitions of a pedestrian future. I picture George, a typical American working stiff. He’s finished his shift. Nearing his car, he punches…
Read More...The movie drumstick by David Benjamin PARIS — This familiar movie scene is always guy-intensive, with squads from the Tactical Police, the bomb unit, the FBI and a few Homeland Security kibitzers, along with our unattached hero and — for gender balance — one gorgeous starlet with no lines and very little control over her…
Read More...Why did Scooter scoot so soon? by David Benjamin “I’m going to punt.” — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker PARIS — One night during my service as a weekly newspaper editor in Massachusetts, I was taken intimately aside, in the Town Hall parking lot, by one of the members of the Board of Selectmen. Let’s call…
Read More...How much does America suck? “The American dream is dead.” — Donald Trump PARIS — From a European perspective, the infestation of Mexicans pouring across through cheesecloth southern border of the United States looks almost tolerable compared to the millions of refugees fleeing Syria and the Middle East. These displaced paupers are inundating the Balkans,…
Read More...No entrance by David Benjamin “Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance.” — Jean-Paul Sartre PARIS — Yesterday, coming up the stairs in our 17th-century no-elevator building, I paused wearily on the 108th step. It wasn’t just a matter of fatigue. I was gripped by a…
Read More...SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#735) Three-word philosophies by David Benjamin “… And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s…
Read More...THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#734) God’s great afterthought by David Benjamin “…the unborn, though enclosed in the womb of his mother, is already a human being, and it is an almost monstrous crime to rob it of life which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems more horrible to…
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