Author: Ronald Weihs
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Unboxing
Okay. Okay. Let’s see. This side up. Okay. I need, let’s see, a knife. A matt knife. A box cutter. Yes. Okay. There. Open. Open. Wow. Hello! You okay in there? I’m okay. Um. You’re kind of folded up. Yes, I know. For transport. Do you need a hand? Not really. Can you stand up?…
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The Carney Style
What to make of Carney’s first press conference? He comes into the room with a sheaf of paper and proceeds to read. Occasionally he smiles affably at the reporters in the room. Then he looks back at his notes and continues to read. He just won an election, a total upset. He is declaring a…
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Word spaghetti
I first noticed it about 15 years ago, when we first moved to Hamilton. Someone talking and talking without ever finishing. I said to Judith, “That guy, he can’t stop talking.” I thought it was just that particular guy. Then I noticed it more and more. I thought it was a Hamilton phenomenon. “Hey Jude,…
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Kicking it over
The Berlin Wall was torn down in December, 1989. The Soviet Union was dissolved on December 26, 1991. The USA, apparently, had won the Cold War. Here’s the crowd on top of the Berlin Wall in 1989: Many people were quite optimistic. One such was the political philosopher Francis Fukuyama, who declared “the end of…
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Trump tariffs
“Trump doesn’t know a tariff from a hole in the ground. Everybody knows that.” “Trump thinks that a tariff against Chinese imports means that China will have to pay more to send goods to the US. Trump thinks that a 25% tariff will teach Canada and Mexico a lesson, and force them to stop immigrants…
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Tents in the Park
There is a sculpture in the vestibule of the Church of the Badia Fiorentina in Florence. It isn’t in the sanctuary where the masterpieces of Renaissance art are hanging. It’s out there by itself, up against the wall. A human figure huddled in a blanket. It’s only when you notice the stigmata in the bare…