The Constant Harper

Karl Marx once wrote that “religion is the opiate of the masses.” If he were alive today I think he might be tempted to alter that assessment.
Here and now, as I find myself caught up in the enthusiasm for World Cup, Wimbledon, and baseball, it seems to me that an argument could be made [...]

The news is old as humankind. It moves in mysterious ways, its wonders to report.
We feed on it, stoke the fires of rumor, inhale the smoke of conjecture. We are a species who thrive on stories. We respond to drama. We want heroes.
For the last few centuries the primary vector of news was paper, but [...]

This is it. The sun is out, the days are long. God, presumably, is in his heaven, and we get a taste of it here on Earth.
It can’t last. Enjoy the ride.

Summer’s almost here. The ice cream truck has already made a few tentative sweeps of the neighborhood, tootling its signature “Bicycle Built For Two” theme song. Lawn chairs have been wiped free of spiders, and umbrellas lowered to half mast. Any day now the rains will taper off and the glorious Seattle sunshine will [...]