Latest work
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Protect and kill
Read more: Protect and killThe use of napalm on civilians was just one of the many crimes committed by the U.S. in Vietnam. One of the most durable phrases in the Pentagon’s Vietnam War–era arsenal of euphemisms consisted of two words, protective reaction. A “protective reaction” was any action, including air strikes, the spreading of…
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Cloud cuckoo land
Read more: Cloud cuckoo landThat way madness lies . . . My father had a favorite phrase when coming upon people and situations that defied all common sense. “Cloud cuckoo land,” he’d say, nostrils arched upward in anger, usually looking up from a newspaper or listening to a television news report. I think of…
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Won’t get fooled again
Read more: Won’t get fooled againDonald Trump said he would end the war against Ukraine. Whether that is still possible remains to be seen. The lame-duck Biden administration’s position toward embattled Ukraine is now cynically clear: provide that country with as much authorized military hardware as possible, so that it finds itself in a better…
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Suicide blonde
Read more: Suicide blondeSnow covered Lviv, in western Ukraine — not a cozy holiday destination, but not quite as dangerous as made out either. The woman I love — one part Ryszard Kapuściński, another part Michael Herr, a third a dirty blonde Brenda Starr driving a late model BMW — just recrossed into…
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Italian pocket change
Read more: Italian pocket changeNo more credit cards? The latest Italian government — and in Italy, “latest” seems apt, since government can be as fluid as gender — has said it will set about repealing some of the annoyingly realistic choices advanced by its annoyingly progressive predecessor. What does this mean? In poche parole, “briefly” in…
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Words from the darkness
Read more: Words from the darknessA close up of the human eye by Armenian photographer Suren Manvelyan. It has been ten days since my seventeenth eye operation, this latest slice-and-dice coming only six months short of my seventieth birthday. All these ciphers and dubious milestones lead me to call my doctor and surgeon, seeking the…
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