Category Archives: Words

Did the Media Go Too Far?

Posted on July 23, 2015 by hessd

This is mostly a rant about how television “news” operates. If you’ve never watched news programs on television or if you do watch and like what you are seeing, this is probably not the essay you want to read. On … Continue reading →

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Men learn from Hobbes and Women from Rousseau

Posted on July 20, 2015 by hessd

OK, so it’s never going to replace Mars and Venus. Also, it’s not precisely true. But it is mostly true—more often than not—and it has the same principal virtue that John Gray’s Mars/Venus books have. It teaches that there are … Continue reading →

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Being “thin-skinned”

Posted on June 24, 2015 by hessd

At a meeting of the Northwest Corner Caucus recently, a medical friend of mine observed that an “insult” to the skin was so much easier to acquire when the skin had become thin and therefore vulnerable. I looked at him … Continue reading →

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Foul-mouthed and Free

Posted on April 28, 2015 by hessd

I heard a story yesterday that was unlike any I remember having heard before. Today, I’m going to tell it to you, cutting back a little on the narrative and expanding a little on the theoretical implications. It is…sigh…what I … Continue reading →

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Stanley Victor Freberg, the master of his craft

Posted on April 9, 2015 by hessd

Stan Freberg died this Tuesday at the age of 88. He was one of the funniest men I had ever heard. He was known for his satire, but it wasn’t nasty satire. Mostly, he was just able to look at … Continue reading →

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Heroes

Posted on April 9, 2015 by hessd

Everyone who has served in the Armed Forces of the United States is a hero. Have you heard that? First I heard it as part of the ads for the armed services. Now it is commonplace in the patter of … Continue reading →

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Sexism still sells cars

Posted on March 29, 2015 by hessd

I’d like to spend some of your valuable time today thinking about a topic nearly everyone would call “sexism.” I’m not quite sure what to call it, myself, but when you look at this Buick ad, you will know exactly … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Society, Uncategorized, ways of knowing, Words | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

There must be 50 ways to beat your lover

Posted on March 20, 2015 by hessd

It took me a long time to get interested in 50 Shades of Gray. I have not yet made it so far as to be interested in reading the books or seeing the movie, but the responses to the movie … Continue reading →

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What does “moral fact” mean?

Posted on March 6, 2015 by hessd

One of the great advantages of writing a blog is that you get to decide what the title of a blog is. That is a luxury not shared by people who publish in newspapers, so I don’t really know who … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Society, Theology, Words | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Green Chri$tma$, 1958

Posted on December 21, 2014 by hessd

When Green Chri$tma$ came out in 1958, I was about twenty years old.  I thought it was the funniest broadcast parody I ever heard.  I memorized it immediately—not much of a trick at twenty, really—and performed little impromptu snatches of … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Theology, Words | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments