Light is Right Joe Campbell I used to think that I recognized what news is. After all, I spent most of my working life in the news business. I don’t mean to say that I could define news. I wasn’t sure that I could. But like the jurist who wasn’t sure that he could define obscenity, I knew it when [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell “Yes,” Dingwall said, “I’m speaking out. I’ve reached the point where I can remain silent no longer.” I was taken aback. Dingwall is the last person I would have accused of not speaking out. “To preserve my sanity,” he said, “I have no choice but to admit that I’m abused.” “Abused?” I repeated, startled. “Not [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell “They considered the science settled,” Dingwall said. “On global warming?” I asked. “On global immobility,” he replied. “In the seventeenth century, influential academics insisted that the earth is the immovable centre of the universe and the sun orbits it. That’s why they rejected Galileo, who asserted the opposite.” “It sounds a lot like today,” I [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell Yes, in answer to the musical question, I know what it means to miss New Orleans. In 1981, while holidaying there, I sat in on trumpet with two jazz bands at the Famous Door. Not simultaneously. Successively. Simultaneously would have been understandable, as no one knew what to expect from me. Successively was inexcusable, as [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell Flyers are masochists. There’s something about being stranded in crowded airports waiting to board overbooked planes that excites them. There’s something about being scanned and probed and having their luggage exposed that thrills them. There’s something about being herded into a fuselage and squeezed into one-size-fits-all seats that challenges them. Flyers enjoy cruising at thirty [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell Inconsistency always amuses me. It’s one of the funniest elements of humour. The sayings of Yogi Berra are consistently inconsistent. That’s why we laugh at them. That’s why we ought to laugh at the sayings of progressives. They are consistently inconsistent, too. When Yogi Berra says things like “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded,” [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell Oh, I know that digital technology has revolutionized communications. I’m just not part of it. I like having friends call on me or call me up. I like calling on them or calling them up. I don’t like being constantly on call or calling. I don’t have the stamina. Digital revolutionaries have it and plenty [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell “It’s a creative approach to saving souls,” Dingwall said. “What is?” I asked. “Invincible ignorance,” Dingwall replied. Although we often talked about Church teaching, this was the first time he had mentioned invincible ignorance. “I’m not sure I understand,” I said. “Invincible ignorance is a deficiency of knowledge that you can’t reasonably overcome and consequently [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell From time to time, federal politicians fantasize about inviting the Turks and Caicos Islands to join Canada. I don’t share that dream. I fantasize about inviting Canada to join the Turks and Caicos Islands. If all we want is to hang out in the Caribbean without going through customs, it doesn’t much matter who annexes [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell “I suppose you’ve heard,” Molder said, “that the airlines are buying lighter planes.” “Lighter than what?” Bimsom asked, as dangling comparatives irritate him. “Lighter than they used to be,” Molder said. “What’s wrong with darker planes?” Bimsom asked. “It’s not about hue,” Molder said. “It’s about weight. For every pound they reduce the weight of [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell My editor had got me an exclusive interview with Professor Hans Bunglethorpe. “I’ve never heard of Professor Bunglethorpe,” I said. “Of course, you haven’t,” he replied. “Nobody has. You’ll be the first reporter he has agreed to talk to. Once you’ve broken the story, everyone will have heard of him.” “Everyone?” “He’s made a landmark [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell They say that the age of miracles is past. I don’t believe them. No sooner had Pope Francis begun his pontificate than we witnessed a miracle of the first order. I don’t mean the angelic cloud that appeared in the Florida sky. I mean the new Pope’s progressive youthfulness. Shortly after the papal election, a [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell I try to practice human rights. I don’t mean that I try to practice what governments and their rights agencies preach. On the contrary, I try to practice what they breach. That is, I try to practice human rights. I also preach them. Chiefly, I preach, and the others breach, the right to proclaim and [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell As a child, I learned that bills and coins make a financial statement. They declare a cash value. As an adult, I learned that they also make a policy statement. They reveal a partisan position. Besides purchasing power, they represent political power. Money doesn’t talk. It cheers. Less than a year after the Bank of [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell I used to believe that to sell books, you needed catchy titles. I was wrong. I can think of few titles less catchy than Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Even the short version, DSM, doesn’t qualify as catchy. And yet this publication of the American Psychiatric Association is a best seller, popular both [...]