Lincoln County in the New Mexico Territory, in its Wild West days, was the kind of place "where a man would kill you just to see if a gun worked." TV documentary on the "Lincoln County War" famously involving Billy the Kid that aired in Ottawa on December 18, 1998 (as a pedantic rule I try to source my quotations as accurately as possible but sometimes all you get is all I scribbled down at the time)
"it must be remembered, that life consists not in a series of illustrious actions, or elegant enjoyments; the greater part of our time passes in compliance with necessities, in the performance of our daily duties, in the removal of small inconveniences, in the procurement of petty pleasures…" Samuel Johnson, quoted in D.J. Enright’s introduction to Johnson's The History of Rasselas
"Victims can be victims and not be innocent." David Rieff, A Bed for the Night (header quotation on Chapter 2 of Carol Off The Ghosts of Medak Pocket)
"It is easier to make good men wise than to make bad men good." Henry Fielding, explaining the moral of his novel Tom Jones, quoted by Joseph Schwartz in Gilbert! magazine Vol. 3 No. 4 (Jan/Feb. 2000)
"Being a professional is doing all the things you love to do on the days when you don’t feel like doing them." Julius "Dr. J" Erving, quoted as "Thought du jour" in Globe and Mail November 15, 2001
In my latest National Post column I argue that forbidding "cultural appropriation" would stifle dialogue and sympathy.
“History to me is the story of people and how they lived, not just an endless story of dynasty and wars. They are a part of the story, of course…" Louis L’Amour Education of a Wandering Man
In my latest National Post column I say it's amazing how little attention we give to cybersecurity given the stakes in today's "connected" world.