Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4568 )

• WHO Knew 2?

  

  According to Mark Twain’s taxonomy there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. Right now about all we have are in the last of these categories under the most... Read more

  Posted on 22 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Cold Psalms

  

  “Ne’er cast a cloot ’til May be oot,” as we heard it in Scotland, was a warning, loosely translated, to “never take off a layer until May is over.” That bit of... Read more

  Posted on 21 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Qohelet’s Washcloset

  

  Cast your bread upon the water, as Ecclesiastes says, and it will come back to you when you need it. Since bread is a common slang word for money, and since... Read more

  Posted on 20 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Still Evolving

  

  Evolution, the 2001 movie, I mean, is good escapism. Thinking back on 2001, instead of a space oddessy, another piece of news—another national crisis, in fact,... Read more

  Posted on 19 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Straining Andromeda

  

  As corona-life settles into just the way things are, I pulled out my copy of Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain. I read this in high school, and, judging... Read more

  Posted on 18 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Old Inspiration

  

  Moving is a process that really has no end. I suppose if working folks took a few weeks of staycation and really concentrated, getting everything unpacked... Read more

  Posted on 17 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• I Saw Three Letters

  

  For some reason I seem to have less time during lockdown than I had during whatever the opposite of lockdown may be. Still, papers pile up and I have to sort an... Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• White Whales

  

  Every once in a while I return to Moby Dick. I’m not sure why exactly Melville’s classic has such a hold on me. Perhaps because I first read it while living in... Read more

  Posted on 15 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Tent Pegs

  

  Among the many things that have happened during the pandemic to fill my time, I was invited to join a virtual book discussion group. Read more

  Posted on 14 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Honey and Wine

  

  Academic writing tends to be limiting. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy reading a well-crafted academic work, but when facing a new one I always experience tha... Read more

  Posted on 13 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Is It Real?

  

  I’ve been reading an ebook and I feel lost. I resorted to the ebook because I was invited to join an informal virtual bookclub. Book discussion group may be a... Read more

  Posted on 12 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• More Than Sand

  

  My sci-fi roots may be showing, but when John W. Morehouse posted a story on TheoFantastique’s Facebook page about Dune, I had to follow up. Read more

  Posted on 11 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Really Celebrate

  

  It’s a dilemma.  How do we celebrate Mother’s Day during a lockdown?  The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things.  Given that it was snowing around here... Read more

  Posted on 10 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Open a Book

  

  With all the talk of premature “reopening” one development does seem to bring cheery news. Germany and Italy, it is reported, are considering experimenting... Read more

  Posted on 09 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Leg Up

  

  It’s amazing how often J. D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy comes up in conversation. The book struck a nerve. Reading it wasn’t easy because there were so many... Read more

  Posted on 08 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Resurrectionists

  

  “Resurrectionists” was the name given to those who supplied the black market for human bodies when medical science had scant access, back in the eighteenth and... Read more

  Posted on 07 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Religion’s Trickster

  

  I’m not sure I’ve read any fiction by Native American writers before. Owl Goingback has established a reputation among horror writers for his blending of... Read more

  Posted on 06 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Buzzy Headed

  

  If you’re like me, and I sincerely hope you’re not, you spent your childhood worrying about killer bees. You see, I was stung a lot as a child, having stepped o... Read more

  Posted on 05 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Divided by Eight

  

  Analogies are useful, but never precise. When Midsommar came out last year, people were saying “It’s like Wicker Man.” It’s a good analogy, but not precise. Read more

  Posted on 04 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Seeking Reality

  

  I spend a lot of time struggling to figure out the fundamental basis of reality. I’m hampered in this by a brain that was evolved—optimized—to help me survive i... Read more

  Posted on 03 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY