The U.S. is the global hegemon power — it alone has the power to lay down the law to a multinational coalition of “the willing” who serve its absolute vision. This overwhelming authority has been called more than a superpower; it is a hyperpower, in the eyes of the French. The Chinese are nowhere near […]

Rain-slicked windows looked out over the courtyard far below. The reflection of the Necromancer, an image of seriousness overlaid with quickly dribbling raindrops, had paused in motion for the moment. Usually, the Necromancer was a being in full whirlwind mode, rushing from place to place despite his 300 years of age. The problem with being […]

Donald Trump has an appealing personality, and a winning brusqueness to himself. He can be funny. He is not an unintelligent man. Yet he errs when he brings the tools of the showman/businessman to the Kissingerian heights of international discourse. Why so? Because statecraft isn’t a huckster’s paradise where you’re trying to “bluff” your way […]

Back in the 1970s, when hippies were young and San Francisco was the epicenter of a worldwide cultural seismic upheaval, a place in Asia existed called Kampuchea — the revised name for Cambodia, given to it by its new Communist masters. As with the French Revolution revolutionaries, the new revolutionaries of Southeast Asia liked names […]

Certain multinational companies based in Canada have been whistling pretty despite the Trump administration’s baleful eye toward the country — an attitude motivated by American needs and the realities of trade that prevail in today’s world. WSP Global, a Quebec-based engineering firm with 75,000+ employees and tentacles worldwide, remains positive on the American situation. Although […]

Before the exploration ship dropped them off on Richter-7, Alan Collier and Mark Henderson counted their food packs, doublechecked their power sources, and scanned their envirosuits for microtears in the fabric. Everything was OK. They leapt out of the side of the starship and their parachutes deployed once they were in the middle atmosphere of […]

Amazon, based in Seattle with a secondary headquarters in Washington, has hammered the unions of Quebec by closing all seven of its Quebec facilities after one site voted to unionize. Quebec has been this route before. Walmart closed a store in Jonquiere, Quebec when it tried to unionize. (The Supreme Court of Canada slapped Walmart […]

Now that 80 years have passed since the end of the Second World War, in which Nazi Germany aspired to become the Global Hegemon, what is the role for Germany to play in modern times? Germany’s population has stabilized at about 80 million for several decades now, plus a ragtag bunch of illegal immigrants. If […]

The little girl — who looked a lot like Little Orphan Annie in the Broadway musical — crouched down before her collection of Barbie toys. She had everything, including the Barbie sportscar and the Barbie RV (both hot pink). Barbie and Ken lay on the floor. The little girl picked up Barbie and made Barbie […]

This is it, baby — fact #1, the paramount fact, the primary impulse. And what is it? Why, it’s simple. Reach your own self-described level of grandeur. It’s time to step up to the dais. It’s time to mount those stairs and receive one’s award. Life is a rich and varied panoply of experiences, and […]