protectivearts

Gene Wolfe

Although I would not call myself a science-fiction aficionado, two of my favorite authors are Frank Herbert and Gene Wolfe. Two days after my father died, Wolfe followed (April 14, 2019), two lights dimming together, oddly twinned in my memory. Wolfe’s obituaries appeared in the Washington Post, The New Republic, and The New Yorker. Wolfe’sContinue reading “Gene Wolfe”

The Spanish Inquisition

The abstract is all I have access to: Empirical evidence on contemporary torture is sparse. The archives of the Spanish Inquisition provide a detailed historical source of quantitative and qualitative information about interrogational torture. The inquisition tortured brutally and systematically, willing to torment all who it deemed as withholding evidence. This torture yielded information thatContinue reading “The Spanish Inquisition”

Father, Son, Grandson

___________ There are several permutations of the story. A Zen-priest is asked to provide a blessing, and he obliges, “Father dies, son dies, grandson dies.” The beneficiary is confused and angry, “What kind of blessing is THAT?!” And the wisdom is revealed: “Would you rather it happened another way?” With the received wisdom of theContinue reading “Father, Son, Grandson”