Category Archives: Uncategorized

Polostan

Posted on April 12, 2026 by hessd

Very soon, the second of Neal Stepehson’s Bomb Light trilogy (D: Heavy Water) is going to be published.  The review that Amazon has posted says that Owen Crisp-Upjohn is going to find himself pulled into the orbit of “Aurora, a … Continue reading →

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Being Old: Part 2

Posted on April 6, 2026 by hessd

People who write about the changes in perspective that come with aging talk about the new “temporal horizon.”  I get what that means, but when I ask the question of myself as a newly “old person,” it takes the form … Continue reading →

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A Bulwark of Democracy

Posted on April 1, 2026 by hessd

I don’t often see “existential” in a political column, so the paragraph below caught my eye. The precariousness of the Democrats’ position in the coming decade hit home for me after reading “The 2026 Midterms Are Critical. But 2032 Could … Continue reading →

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Being “Old:” Part 1

Posted on March 26, 2026 by hessd

I was surprised at how fast it happened.  There is a series of experiences that I have mentally labelled “getting old.” But, as you see, the difference between getting old and being old is as clear as the difference between … Continue reading →

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“The range of respectable opinion is strikingly narrow.”

Posted on March 13, 2026 by hessd

When I first read those words, they seemed to me clearly true.  Now I have thought about them a little, and I am not so sure. When I think about the range of respectable opinions, my mind reverts to my … Continue reading →

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Small Injuries

Posted on March 11, 2026 by hessd

Listen to the careful language here. This is Baya Voce [1] on Jonathan Haidt’s substack, After Babel, March 10, 2026 Here is what she says. One of the partners is in bed, their body “angled in that small wordless way … Continue reading →

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What to Say on Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 23, 2026 by hessd

Mitzi Sampson was quoted in an article on Valentine’s Days past as saying that today’s receiver doesn’t want “frills or grand proclamations, but an intimate knowledge of the receiver, and the simple recognition that says I know you, I see … Continue reading →

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Loyd Center

Posted on January 18, 2026 by hessd

I live very near Sullivan’s Gulch.  In fact, the neighborhood association I live in is called the Sullivan’s Gulch Neighborhood Association, even though the gulch itself is now the home Interstate Route 84 and a railroad track.  The only people … Continue reading →

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New Rationales

Posted on January 7, 2026 by hessd

I am a great fan of Thomas D. Edsall’s columns in the New York Times.  His columns are made up of: a) a good question, b) a collection of interesting and reliable correspondents, and c) a journalistic schema that uses … Continue reading →

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“Unnecessary Videos”

Posted on January 1, 2026 by hessd

The old Soviet joke is that there is no Tass in the Pravda and no Pravda in the Tass.  My Soviet Studies professor at Miami University, who told us that one and who spoke Russian fluently, said that Tass meant … Continue reading →

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