Tim Parks, in the New York Review of Books blog, writes on the always interesting, sometimes vexed relationship between writers and their readers, one made especially interesting by the blogger and his mostly anonymous readers and commentators: As with the editing process…there is the question of an understanding between writer and reader about what kindContinue reading “Writer and Reader, Bound Together”
Author Archives: Samir Chopra
Ten Years After: War Criminals Still Walk Free
You call someone a ‘mass-murdering war criminal’, you best not miss. And so, when I use that term to describe the unholy troika of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld–as I have in the past–I should have very good reasons for doing so. Fortunately, that isn’t hard to do: a pretty systematic caseContinue reading “Ten Years After: War Criminals Still Walk Free”
The 1944 Mayor’s Committee on Marihuana Report
Today’s post continues a theme initiated yesterday: sensible views on drugs, expressed many, many years ago. Yesterday’s post referenced the New York Academy of Medicine’s 1955 report on opiate addiction. Today’s post goes back even further, to 1944. Then, as reefer madness swept the nation (WWII notwithstanding), New York City became the focus of aContinue reading “The 1944 Mayor’s Committee on Marihuana Report”
The New York Academy of Medicine on Opiate Addiction circa 1955
I’ve had a battered paperback titled Drugs and the Mind on my shelves for a while now, unread. As I’ve begun a minor purge of my shelves to get rid of books in bad condition, I’ve finally decided to give it a gander before giving it a toss. Written by one Robert S. DeRopp, itContinue reading “The New York Academy of Medicine on Opiate Addiction circa 1955”
Physical and Psychological Affordance
According to Wikipedia, ‘an affordance is a quality of an object, or an environment, which allows an individual to perform an action. For example, a knob affords twisting, and perhaps pushing, while a cord affords pulling.’ (A photograph of a tea set in the Wikipedia entry bears the caption, ‘The handles on this tea set provide anContinue reading “Physical and Psychological Affordance”
A Crossfit Party with Strong Women
Last night, I attended a Crossfit party. During the party–held at Crossfit South Brooklyn–two very strong and fit women, Annie Thorisdottir and Lindsey Valenzuela, performed a grueling workout for ten minutes. (Perform as many rounds as possible of the following combination: five shoulder to overhead movements of a seventy-five pound barbell, ten deadlifts of theContinue reading “A Crossfit Party with Strong Women”
Killing American Citizens Without Trial: The NYPD Way
The New York City Police Department is always ahead of the curve. They have aspirations to be a domestic surveillance service–after all, why should the FBI have all the fun?–and to secure all the budget increases and prestige that goes with it. Besides, don’t the movies tell us that ‘secret agents’ always get all theContinue reading “Killing American Citizens Without Trial: The NYPD Way”
The Glamorous Life: Waiting Tables on the Upper West Side
In the summer of 1994, broke and increasingly desperate, I roamed New York City, or rather, just Manhattan, looking for work as a bartender. I had worked as one before, in Newark, and hoped that I would find an employment venue which would provide me with the Holy Grail of bartending work: an interesting barContinue reading “The Glamorous Life: Waiting Tables on the Upper West Side”
Nietzsche on the Lazy Faithful
Those who read Nietzsche often find him very funny. (Some of those who read him find him extremely unfunny too, especially when the joke is on them.) His humor sometimes sneaks in on you in the most unexpected of places. A good example is found in the following: On the future of Christianity. – As to theContinue reading “Nietzsche on the Lazy Faithful”
Reflections on Facebook, Part Three
Facebook statuses are legendary. They have been indicted ad nauseam as archives of exhibitionism, narcissism, boring and pointless navel-gazing, repositories of TMI, and many other sins. But they still repay some attention. The Facebook status typically includes a prompt. The current one is ‘What’s on your mind?’ The one before that was ‘How are youContinue reading “Reflections on Facebook, Part Three”
Samir Chopra 