Monthly Archives: October 2026

Terror And Slaughter Return!

October 17, 2026 – 11:21 pm

France is aflame, after decades of choosing suicidal unwisdom and stubborn denial of self-evident realities. Paris is convulsed by riots, while the lovely Town Hall of Limoges was just burnt to the ground. (I wonder if it had a “beautiful oak door”.) It’s tempting to think of this as some sort of divine retribution — […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Society and Culture, Reaction | Comments (4)

Don’t Let The Door Hit Ya Where The Dog Shoulda Bit Ya!

October 15, 2026 – 7:29 pm

I haven’t had much to say about the American political scene for a while, and it has never in my lifetime felt more like an existential struggle between mortal enemies. But there are still some bright spots, and occasions for momentary happiness. In particular, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde: one would have to have a heart […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Politics | Comments (2)

Happy Columbus Day

October 12, 2026 – 1:56 pm

…to all of you. Thanks as always for coming round.

By Malcolm | Posted in General | Comments (0)

Ave Verum Corpus

October 11, 2026 – 8:00 pm

How can this not be of transcendent origin? Frame your hypotheses as you like; I will refuse to believe them.

By Malcolm | Posted in Inner Work, Religion | Comments (0)

Ted Talk

October 8, 2026 – 11:46 am

A prescient writer had this to say, way back in 1995: First let us postulate that the computer scientists succeed in developing intelligent machines that can do all things better than human beings can do them. In that case presumably all work will be done by vast, highly organized systems of machines and no human […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Society and Culture, Technology | Comments (2)

What Now?

October 5, 2026 – 6:16 pm

I’ll say this: I never imagined that in late 2026 the #1 topic on social media would be philosophy of consciousness. But there it is, and it isn’t going to go away: the personhood of AI agents — we even call them “agents”! — is already, in some people’s minds, an urgent question. And as […]

By Malcolm | Posted in A.I. | Comments (0)

Songs From The Dusty Trail

October 3, 2026 – 8:05 pm

My new favorite musical artist is a fellow calling himself Buddy Mac, who has, just in the past couple of days, become famous on X. He performs a haunting, “lonesome cowboy” kind of music not heard much anymore, and does it so well that it pierced my heart. (Listen to “my pony and I”, and […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Music and Recording | Comments (0)

We Are No Longer A Serious People

October 1, 2026 – 2:26 pm

I read with dismay today of Tennessee’s botched execution of Christa Pike, who had been sentenced to death for her role in the cruel and gruesome murder of a young woman, Colleen Slemmer, in 1995. Not only was justice postponed for three decades, but when the time came, the authorities couldn’t even get the job […]

By Malcolm | Posted in Society and Culture, Law | Comments (4)