The Ironist

Differing Perspectives

AI Hasn’t Won Yet!

AI Hasn’t Won Yet!

I have been reading so much nonsense about the American election. The so-called ‘experts’ don’t get it. It is not so much about who is in power, or who is out of power, or what the consequences were, or are, or will be. It isn’t about who was or will be good or bad....
Le Mot Juste : Words Matter

Le Mot Juste : Words Matter

The story is told by his son Dylan of a memorable exchange between Dylan’s father, the Canadian writer William Bell, famous for his novel Forbidden City, and Dylan’s sister Megan. Megan had been reprimanded for some unspecified childish misdemeanour or other, and had...
Forgotten Horror is a Sin

Forgotten Horror is a Sin

The Real Cost of War My father’s Combat Report, after responding to a raid on Teignmouth, England, in which six were killed, many injured, and 183 homes and a school were destroyed. „Absturz in See,“ the note said, “ditched in the sea“. Someone wanted the truth to be...
Listen to the Song

Listen to the Song

 The blind need a helping hand, but a disability can be a gift                                                                                                                            A maidenhair tree, or ginkgo biloba   A recent article in the Spectator[1]...
Ramblings #3 – Shanghai Surges

Ramblings #3 – Shanghai Surges

“Meet me at the gate to Yu Garden”   –   Anonymous My neighbour across the street ran the ‘Maple Leaf Express’, one of the exit routes from Hong Kong when the British returned it to China in 1997. He regaled with me stories of incompetent Canadian government officials...
Smile!

Smile!

We need more humor. It is hard keeping paper money dry when you live in the water.  That is why I always kept my lari¹ in coins. Coins don’t get soggy. I think that is why American sturgeons switched to credit cards and then many got themselves into so problems with...