Dec 24 2009
Some time back, I used to write fanfiction, and in one of those fanfictions I wrote this story. I’ve cleaned it up (heh heh) and gotten it down to just Schmedley’s story. Being that it seems such a joyous Christmas this year, I think the story fits right in with how things are going.
So, without further ado…
Apr 26 2009
Man. The weirdest thing is that so many things I thought would be different are not; and others I miss completely.
There’s, like, no one around. Yet, the grocery store is still there; rather bare-boned and staffed by two people, but I never figured on it being there. I have been here so many years, I had finally acclimated to the people-sounds that jarred me when I first moved from the old Napier house. Lawn mowers, voices, traffic, voices. The silences would be refreshing if I didn’t know why they are here.
There’s only one gas station, but its still open and fairly cheap. No traffic to speak of, no idiots making you crazy. Still, it occasionally feels creepy, that twilight zone feeling, of is this a dream or real? Like, am I dead too and just don’t know it? Its not like my town was ever a metropolis, but still.
I try not to dwell on creeping myself out.
I try not to think at all most days. I would kill him if he weren’t already dead for leaving me alone like this. Or kill myself for not dying with them.
Feb 15 2008
We think of plagues as widespread outbreaks of disease affecting our bodies. The worst recorded plague was the Black Death bubonic plague that killed about one third of the population of Europe in the 14th century. Today, modern nations have conquered the old biological plagues, but a new kind of plague bedevils us: a plague of institutional dishonesty.
The past year has brought revelations of steadily deteriorating conditions in financial institutions. The consistent and widespread character of the problem points to a single cause, the steady advance and normalization of dishonest practices in the financial community. This process of exponentially increasing corruption has now reached an inflection point where serious damage is being caused, as financial markets seize up and major institutions are threatened with collapse.
Yet nowhere in the commentariat is this problem honestly assessed. It is viewed as a mysterious glitch that calls for a quick fix. This essay addresses how institutional dishonesty became a plague and how we can cure ourselves.