A life in words

  • Proposed Amendment: No Absolute Immunity; Admissibility of Evidence

    I’m concerned about the implications of the recent Trump v. United States decision, as well as the earlier Nixon v. Fitzgerald. See Wikipedia for an overview. It’s my view that “absolute immunity” is a concept that has no place in a republic. Given that, I thought I’d try my hand at a possible “fix” and…

  • Bumbershoot internship/mentorship program appears racially discriminatory

    Bumbershoot internship/mentorship program appears racially discriminatory

    36th legislative district representative Julia Reed’s recent newsletter contains this section: OPPORTUNITIES AT BUMBERSHOOT The Bumbershoot Festival is a highlight for the 36th district. It provides opportunities for local artists to showcase their work to wide audience and gives us the opportunity to see our favorite artists in our backyard. But the festival is also…

  • Quidism: the belief that things matter

    The belief that nothing has objective or inherent meaning – commonly called nihilism – is quite popular these days. In some ways I’m sympathetic: if you come to reject or at least harbor serious skepticism of the existence of a non-material, spiritual realm, and that’s where you put ultimate meaning, then brute material reality seemingly…

The Master said, ‘Yu, shall I tell you what it is to know[?] To say you know when you know, and to say you do not when you do not, that is knowledge.’Confucius, The Analects, II.17, trans. D. C. Lau, Penguin 1979