Aggression and the illusion of power

Aggression and the illusion of power

If a person bugs you, ignore him, and he’ll stop. This was the standard advice that adults gave me as a child. I suppose it was comfortable to them because it was non-violent and sounded vaguely plausible. It was also spectacularly ineffective, so I found it less...

Uncovering literary mastery in children’s comics

Growing up, I read lots of comics, and by “comics,” I mean mainstream, pulp-papered, disposable children’s lit, rarely considered high art and never expected to be. At best, I read children’s books in graphic-novel form. I also read such works as Woody Woodpecker,...
Snapshots of Congress 2013

Snapshots of Congress 2013

The 82nd Congress for the Humanities and Social Sciences was held last week on the UVic campus. From June 1 to June 8, approximately 7 000 delegates from over 70 universities or other academic associations visited UVic to speak in and attend presentations, panels,...
On being annoyed with environmentalists

On being annoyed with environmentalists

Once, I went to a talk about deforestation. The speaker told a story about a grove of old-growth trees. “They were magnificent, enormous trees . . .” the speaker began. “We sent a letter to the government . . .” he continued. “But,” he concluded, “they were clear...