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The Column of Lasting Insignificance: May 24, 2014
by John Wilcock
“The story of life is quicker than the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello, goodbye.”
— Jimi Hendrix
“Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem. How far I shall succeed in gratifying this ambition, is yet to be developed.”
— Abraham Lincoln
— Week of May 17, 2014
“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”
— Andy Warhol
— Week of May 10, 2014
Save the world—with Quinoa?; Silence isn’t…; Chelsea—heir apparent to the Clinton Foundation; Junk Science is…; the Smell of York; and of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of May 3, 2014
Bernie Sanders for Prez?; The Working Families Party — hatching movements one organization at a time; penny pot stocks — not without obvious risk; tall timber building — 9-story apartment complex in East London employs ‘plywood on steroids’; The Philosopher’s Mail — populist news outlet alive to traditional philosophical virtues; Casinos know when to fold ‘em; and of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of April 26, 2014
Breaking up is hard to do…; Kasparov vs. Putin–some pretty crushing moves; Your sex life on drugs…; ‘Sawbucked to Death’ by Will Durst; Right-wing support for a healthy minimum wage?; A novel ‘convenient store’; Jacob Zuma–anything but presidential material, and he’ll likely stay in power; estilo gángster pizzería en España; and of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of April 19, 2014
Everybody is assumed to be an ally…; from the archives
— Week of April 12, 2014
The Kessler Syndrome — one huge traffic accident in space just waiting to happen; Dominique Strauss-Kahn — on forcing his way…; running the FCC with your hands tied behind your back; Black Tie or Tie-die?; Bill Gates, the optimist; Mum’s the word from the NRA regarding alarming gun owner behavior research; and of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of April 5, 2014
Washington lobbyists — unless they say they’re not…; groin rivalry?; Phillip Roth on the need to write; move over Fox TV; voter demographics by choice of booze; that ‘wasted’ space at the bottom of every page of the NYT; and of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of March 29, 2014
Old friends will be aware that I published a tabloid underground newspaper in Manhattan in the ’60s called Other Scenes, and although I have only a handful of these myself, I occasionally see others offered for sale on various websites….
— Week of March 22, 2014
Shakespeare & Co., & Charles Bukowski; advances in 3D printing dumbs down manufacturing; tough love’s scrapes and bruises in the workplace; Online business more vulnerable to hacking–duh!; Life without parole IS racial profiling; it’s not your grandfather’s bourbon anymore; ‘rent-a-renoir’?; and of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of March 15, 2014
Degree inflation — ‘sorry, you’re overqualified’; pedal-powered planes are back at Lasham airfield; More NAFTA, really?; tons of rattlers on the barbie — it all tastes like bony chicken, 3D babies printed to order; What’s the FAA doing about all of those drones?; and of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of March 8, 2014
Fussin’ and cussin’ on ‘Capital in the 21st Century’; meet Professor Dumpster; throw Congress in the trash; bring back the WPA!; the life and times of Alex Ferguson; and of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of March 1, 2014
A conversation on Spring; Happy Centennial Current History magazine!; Democracy—still the best game in town; Switzerland proposes a guaranteed income; forced sexual orientation changes?; and of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of February 22, 2014
All sonic, no boom — Aerion’s new high-speed business-class jet; Susan Sontag, …after all these years; Goldman Sachs—still high on the list of “Best” companies to work for?; How long can the EU survive?; True love—this bra cracks the code, and releases the clasp; scalpel, sponge, retractor… all done by robots; life in the big house,—pay up!; and of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of February 15, 2014
Matriarch II—the mother-in-law scenario played out in India; bikers without helmets—just plain dumb! …and costly; is Netflix reshaping the game?; inflatable avalanche rescue pack!; No, and I mean NO!!!; the Jeopardy computer gets a BIG upgrade; startup… smartup; and of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of February 8, 2014
the Koch Brothers — Cash Cows…, pigs, sheep, bears, porcupines, zebras, giraffes, antelope…; the Thrilla in Manila, aka ‘Acute Traumatic Encephalopathy’; malaria vaccine — a real challenge; listening to Britney Spears CAN make you deaf (and blind)!; Global warming—isn’t??; and of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of February 1, 2014
Sagging interest in Plastic surgery; Why Insider trading can’t be stopped; Are you wearing Firefox or Internet Explorer?; ‘Putin on the Ritz’; The Occupy Movement — dry run for the ‘Big One’?; ‘I’m biking here!…; Dumbing Down the Federal Courts; and, of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of January 25, 2014
Chaos Comix — is the world ready for is a weekly comic aimed at literate adults?
— Week of January 18, 2014
Dreams of Revolution in the air — just not in the press…; visiting Chinese student budgets (Mercedes included); Smart pigs elude noisy hunters in Lousiana; Conjugal visits quell fiery passions?; Smuggling sperm out of the big house; Paul Krassner in 2014; and, of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of January 11, 2014
Musawah — women reclaiming Islam and the Koran; ‘The best little prisoner-rehabilitation house in Texas’; Carnival Cruise lines — awash in bad times and bad press; Regarding ‘HENRY’s — High Earners Not Rich Yet; China launches Comac—the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China; Futball viewing on the rise in the US; Repaying microcredit loans with body parts: Citizenship for sale in Malta; and, of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of January 4, 2014
Futile Fracking Fight?; Duck Dynasty dynasty; uber-agent Mike Ovitz on the way down; Michael Bloomberg is not going to…; uber-ship for the uber-wealthy; taking aim at the insane BBC fees; and of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of December 28, 2013
KABOOM!!!—Art as destruction; Talking Anarchy—true social organization without authority?; if it’s good for you, it can’t taste good, right?; under the knife—my encounter with lung cancer; and of course, the Wilcock Web…
— Week of December 21, 2013
Made in Heaven, played by real people…
— Week of December 14, 2013
From the Archives — How To Get By on $40 per Week
— Week of December 7, 2013
From the Archives— columns from the 1950s & ‘60s
— Week of November 30, 2013
From the Archives — columns from the 1950s & ‘60s
— Week of November 23, 2013
it’s here…