For What It’s Worth

Posted on 7 May 2010 by Erik Hare | 9 Comments

It’s been a bad week. The Gulf of Mexico is being poisoned on a scale almost unimaginable, the cradle of Western Civilization, Greece, threatened to bring it all down, and we have dogs and cats planning to live together – no, wait, that’s Tories and Liberal Democrats. On a rainy May morning that might freeze over into snow, I have only one thing running through my head:

There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
Telling me I’ve got to beware

Think it’s time we stop
Hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down

Continue reading →

Cinco de Mayo

Posted on 5 May 2010 by Erik Hare | 13 Comments

It started as invasion by France to collect a debt, but the larger and better equipped French invasion force was defeated by a ragged group of Mexicans, some armed with little more than machetes and pitchforks. The Battle of Puebla on 5 May 1862 hardly registers in Mexico, but around the world Cinco de Mayo has become a cultural event. It was, at the heart of it, a people’s victory. It took a few years for the colorful armies and politicians to sort it all out, but the victory at Puebla is a story deep at the heart of Mexican character – a determination and toughness that the great continent of North America shares as a very odd, sometimes dysfunctional family.

Continue reading →

Show Me Your Papers

Posted on 3 May 2010 by Erik Hare | 11 Comments

The passage of a new law in Arizona requiring local law enforcement officers to act against people who do not have documentation showing they are in the USofA legally has created a tremendous firestorm. Protests were swift and conferences in the state normally known for plenty of sunshine were abruptly cancelled. Candidates in other states either swiftly praised or condemned the action. For all the noise, however, if we think this through a bit this could wind up being the catalyst for actually doing something about an issue that has been allowed to fester for a generation, targeting the most vulnerable among us, separating families, and generally creating havoc at the fringes of our otherwise “civilized” nation. That could be a good thing.

Continue reading →

The Age of Anxiety

Posted on 23 April 2010 by Erik Hare | 30 Comments

After the mechanized cruelty and destruction of World War II, two important works of literature tried to capture the feeling of despair. Along with well known 1984 (1948) by George Orwell, there is the lesser known Age of Anxiety (1947) by W H Auden. Both of these cast a shadow we still live under, twisting our language to defy and define a mechanical world not entirely fit for humans. Auden’s more romantic treatment is worth the read if for no reason other than its resonance today.

Continue reading →

Formaldehyde

Posted on 16 April 2010 by Erik Hare | 8 Comments

Ever day we learn that a chemical in our lives is thought to cause cancer or some other illness. After a while, most people’s eyes glaze over and it’s left to the experts to figure out what the real hazard is. Sometimes, movements form to get rid of the offending material and either an industry converts away from it or legislation is passed to force the conversion. One very simple molecule, formaldehyde, has stubbornly resisted the pressure on it and remains a large part of some people’s lives to this day. It is, at least, very strange.

Continue reading →