The Map is Not The Territory

Blaming Sarah Palin

2008-11-07T18:15:56Z

WE are to Blame

Don't get me wrong - Palin was a disaster in waiting. And obviously Palin was used by the campaign.

All that Sarah Palin IS guilty of is that she allowed herself to be used. Clearly, she didn't have the understanding that moving to the Big Leagues was going to be different than running for Mayor or even for Governor of an insulated, small population state.

There are a lot of people out there who get by with flash over substance - sizzle over steak. (Paris Hilton anyone?) Unfortunately, a run for President will examine and magnify and distort every possible flaw a person has and even those they don't have ... and Sarah either didn't consider that or actually believed that she was qualified (I would bet on the latter). She had stars in her eyes. It's sad to see what is now happening, but it is also so very predictable given how our society falls for the cult of "celebrity".

I once had a boss who told me that "perception is reality" as he "reworked" (ie: lied about) the unpopular profit projections to send to head office. Unfortunately, people like him believe that a good lie is better than the hard truth.

So who is ultimately responsible? WE ARE. We are a society that encourages hubris and overreaching. We egg them on to reach the top and then we gather with stones in our hands to knock them down when they get there.

Sarah will be fine ... she believes in her own PR. That's the really frightening thing.

The world is still out there ... and Bush is still in charge

2008-11-06T23:12:35Z

Least we forget ..... Todays headlines:

Presidential Puppy

2008-11-06T22:27:39Z

Ok, now that the election stuff is over comes the first real important decision..

What kind of puppy are they going to get for the girls?

Any thoughts?

I have a weakness for Dachshunds because, well... wiener dogs are cuter than spit! Plus they are feisty, loyal, fierce and proud little suckers. Good with kids too if you get them young.

Undecided Voters - WTF!!

2008-11-03T22:05:21Z

David Sederis said:

"To put undecideds in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of sh*t with bits of broken glass in it?”
To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked."

That pretty much sums it up!

Politics

2008-10-29T21:04:49Z

I am sorry but this is just too funny .... Christopher Buckley takes a shot at writing a concession speech for John McCain

Priceless

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5046c458-a5c2-11dd-9d26-000077b07658.html

To those Independent Voters

2008-10-16T19:25:06Z

I am 55 yrs old and have seen many elections and have voted "left" and "right" on different occasions... but I've ALWAYS voted. Sometimes I held my nose and did it .. but I did it.

Political Elections often seem to be more of a game than anything else, like watching the World Wrestling Federation - you know it's fake but you watch anyway. Unfortunately, the choice that is made at the end is one we will all have to live with.

My best advice: dig into the positions as deep as you can stomach, and then try and choose between the candidates based on which one appears to be most believable to you. The records are available - voting records. How many times each has changed direction is an interesting thing to check as well as their reasons for changing. (You gotta know when to hold'em ... and know when to fold'em)

For me, I know there is NO perfect candidate, NO perfect platform so I tend to pick the person my gut says is the most genuine to me -- the person who has stayed true to their expressed ideals (as best as one can in this crazy world). I would rather follow someone with a vision than someone who changes their mind all the time. Give me a goal and a path to that goal. Look back in history at the great leaders and you will see that they were all flawed but each had one thing in common ... a vision and the character to stay true to that vision.

Right now, we are at a point in time when the world is changing and it isn't going to stop or change back because we are afraid or timid. We can't stick our heads in the sand and hope the worlds challenges will just go away. Believe me, the rest of the world is on the move and if you just sit there in the past that parade is gonna walk right over you.

.... so, if you believe that, you need to vote for the person who you think is truly looking forward, embraces change and is willing to take that baton and lead the F**'ing parade!
pick your poison and VOTE!!

Christmas Baking

2007-12-30T22:54:54Z

This year was spent with old friends and I decided to do something special for dessert .... something I had seen before once in France but had never attempted... A Bouche de Noel or, in the vernacular, a Yule Log.

Now, the Bouche de Noel is supposed to resemble a real log and there are a variety of ways to put one together, however they all have a sponge cake of some kind, a filling of some variety to be rolled up in the cake (jelly roll style) and an icing of some kind that can be sculpted into the resemblance of tree bark. Then of course, you decorate to enhance the forest effect.

After consulting 4 cook books and many (MANY) websites - I settled on an amalgamation of several recipes:

Cake: I chose to do a chocolate Genoise
Filling: This was the hardest to decide, but I settled on a Hazelnut mousse to firstly, keep the cake a bit lighter and second because I love hazelnuts! (plus I had some Frangelico Liquor in the bar)
Icing: This was no contest - a dark chocolate ganache
Embellishments: Rosemary branches -for branches of course, meringue mushrooms for tradition, chopped pistachio for ground cover, and praline hazelnuts for more ground cover.

THE RESULTS - in Picture form

Mushrooms turned out well - added a dust of cocoa powder for dirt!

Ground Cover and branches added to platter - so far so good.

Adding the Ganache - The Roll sat in the fridge to firm up prior to slicing the ends off to form side branches .... Ganache makes lovely glue!

A fork added the bark effect - and a final sprinkle of icing sugar for snow and Voila!

And YES .... it tasted delicious!!

Happy Baking to all.

Opera anyone... (and NO - I don't mean the talk show!)

2007-11-06T03:08:37Z

Calling all Opera fans, and even those that just dig music. The Third season of the Metropolitan Opera's Live in HD is about to start!

For those that don't know,

Opera Suite101 - “Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD,” was launched in December of 2006. The Met has had a long history of success with its Saturday afternoon radio broadcasts. 6 operas were shown as a series of live performance transmissions in high definition in 2006/07. The series has met with overwhelming success and plays to sold-out houses, prompting many theaters to schedule encore showings. The phenomenon has grown to such a large proportions that the February, 2007 broadcast of Eugene Onegin drew a worldwide audience of over 50,000

The Los Angeles Times - “The Met’s experiment of merging film with live performances has created a new art form… This venture may be the most significant development in opera since the supertitle.”

You buy at ticket at selected local theaters and then you watch the opera in High Definition LIVE from New York! I went to three of them last year and was blown away. The first one I saw and the theater was half full ... but by the time the last one aired you had to reserve seats .. they were sold out.

This years lineup: click the link for details http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/hd_events.aspx

Roméo et Juliette - December 15, 2007
Hansel and Gretel - January 1, 2008 *
Macbeth - January 12, 2008 *
Manon Lescaut - February 16, 2008
Peter Grimes - March 15, 2008 *
Tristan und Isolde - March 22, 2008
La Bohème - April 5, 2008
La Fille du Régiment - April 26, 2008 *

True confessions

2007-10-25T23:19:12Z

I have a confession to make regarding my miniature dachshund, Maximillian ... he's a Bee Sucker! Yes, I said BEE.

We have this large stuffed soft toy bee that someone gave me as a joke 4 yrs ago (by large I mean larger than the dog). I offered it to Max around the time of his first birthday and he immediately draped himself over the thing and started sucking (nursing?) and pumping gently with his feet. The area he is sucking gets totally wet and gross, but , undeterred, he's always back at it the next evening.

He now does this at least once a day. I assume it is either him reverting to being a pup with his mom or semi-sexual. ... not that I want to know... just as long as the neighbors never find out!

Serious essay time ....

2007-09-28T19:13:30Z

I confess to still being under-whelmed by the disappointing outcome of the Harry Potter series and have been chatting with those of a similar mind for the past two months. This morning I stumbled across the following sentence that, although it was made in the context of modern music, struck me as applying directly to the HP phenomenon .

In a mass-media age, celebrity and genius will only find each other by accident.

Please discuss re: JK Rowling - celebrity does not a genius make

this Avatar

2007-08-01T01:10:42Z

Some have wondered about this Avatar. Many think it's someone that it's not.

For the record: This is Dawn French of the British comedy series "the Vicar of Dibley" fame.

For those who are unfamiliar I present the following short clips. At the end of each episode the Vicar would sit with Alice (not the sharpest knife in the drawer) and tell her a joke ....

Romeo and Juliet (updated)

2007-07-09T01:18:22Z

My my ... this has been a most interesting week. (huge understatement)

I just returned from the airport, following a final meeting with the Vancouver Police, in order to put Romeo (aka: our Visitor From Denmark .. or VFD for short) on a plane back to the land of proper pastries and lovely cheese and his poor mortified parents. Now, why, you might ask... (or you might not... but assuming you did) would the police want to send a 17 yr old boy back to Denmark when he had only just arrived here a few days ago?

Ahhh ... well that is a rather long and sordid story involving the internet, multiple misunderstandings, immaturity (quite a lot of that and not just by those under the age of majority), a rather hefty number of fibs (ok.. outright lies then), people in Taiwan, young girls that may or may not be 13 or 14 or 15, Shakespeare, intrigue, subterfuge, and one very annoyed wiener dog.

Now - of course I could put the full tale behind a cut for the curious ..... however that would mean that I'd actually have to write the darned thing out .... which would involve a certain amount of time (largish) on my part . Not that I would particularly mind doing that IF there was overwhelming interest on the part of others in reading such a saga, ..... but let's be honest here: I have no need to put the story down for myself .... heck, I already know the darned story!

So that's that.

I need a martini now.

Tea Confessions

2007-05-18T22:41:55Z

Let me start by saying, I love coffee - real coffee, the European strength Scandinavian type of brew. Starbucks House blend beans. I drink coffee for it's effects as a stimulant. It wakes me up, and it is a wonderful finish to a meal . I'm also probably addicted to caffeine

However, having said all that .... the hot drink of choice for comfort ... is tea. My mother is British so it is obviously genetic. I mention my mother because she is the primary reason why I am not only a drinker of tea but quite particular about the type of tea and method of preparation, Yes, I admit it, I'm turning into a tea snob.

I just bought a new red teapot, and follow George Orwell's method (George and I part company on the milk issue though). Having said all that - I'm really a very nice person - just don't ever offer me a cup of tea unless you are prepared for a critique.

I must be missing something/Gun Control

2007-04-19T23:09:21Z

Violent images currently clogging the media with madness and tragedy prompt some sort of response ... but what response is adequate? What could I possibly say that would make any difference to the events unfolding in Virginia?

Let me start by saying that I have owned a gun in the past- a shotgun that my grandfather gave me when I was 15. I am also in favor of gun control. No ... not just in favor .... IN FREAKING FAVOR OF!

Now the pro gun argument that is given over and over again has the following two points (in no particular order):
1) It's our constitutional right to bear arms and,
2) We only have our guns for hunting or for our personal protection.

To issue number 1 - this is perfectly true, we do have this right. I would point out though that having the right to something doesn't make exercising it ... erm.. right. We have the collective right to declare war on other nations but that doesn't necessarily mean we should do so at the drop of a hat without some mighty compelling reasons. Keep in mind; when the "right to bear arms" clause in the constitution was created when "arms" meant single-shot, muzzle loaded cumbersome devices - slow to load and difficult to conceal. I doubt the founding fathers could have envisioned semi-automatic hand guns let alone such devices in the hands of the general population.

To issue number 2 - well, in the case of handguns and automatic weapons, these justifications just don't stand up under scrutiny.

A hunter doesn't need a handgun or an automatic weapon for hunting. A real hunter uses shotguns and/or a rifle. You don't go after a deer with an UZI. You just don't.

As for the protection angle .... well that one makes very little sense if you just think about it. Guns are NOT and never were designed for protection... armor was designed for protection, security systems were designed for protection, FLIPPING DEAD BOLT LOCKS were designed for protection!! Guns were designed to propel a bullet at a target with the purpose of KILLING IT. Their purpose is killing. Even if we stretch our minds to accept that possession of a gun might act as a deterrent therefore providing protection in that way, the only way that would work is if the person we are trying to deter KNOWS we have said deterrent gun. This means that, if we accept this argument we need to walk around with our guns in holsters on our hips like in the old west or with automatic weapons slung over our shoulders. Even then it isn't really about protection but about power.

I owned a shotgun and went duck hunting twice a year with it, but I at least knew what it was ... it was a weapon.. it was for killing. Anyone who owns a gun and doesn't have the self awareness to admit that simple truth has a BIG problem.

So - I offer this song by Cheryl Wheeler - her words are much better than mine. you can hear the song here: http://www.leighm.net/?p=33

If It Were Up to Me
Words and Lyrics by: Cheryl Wheeler

Maybe it's the movies, maybe it's the books
Maybe it's the bullets, maybe it's the real crooks
Maybe it's the drugs, maybe it's the parents
Maybe it's the colors everybody's wearin
Maybe it's the President, maybe it's the last one
Maybe it's the one before that, what he done
Maybe it's the high schools, maybe it's the teachers
Maybe it's the tattooed children in the bleachers
Maybe it's the Bible, maybe it's the lack
Maybe it's the music, maybe it's the crack
Maybe it's the hairdos, maybe it's the TV
Maybe it's the cigarettes, maybe it's the family
Maybe it's the fast food, maybe it's the news
Maybe it's divorce, maybe it's abuse
Maybe it's the lawyers, maybe it's the prisons
Maybe it's the Senators, maybe it's the system
Maybe it's the fathers, maybe it's the sons
Maybe it's the sisters, maybe it's the moms
Maybe it's the radio, maybe it's road rage
Maybe El Nino, or UV rays
Maybe it's the army, maybe it's the liquor
Maybe it's the papers, maybe the militia
Maybe it's the athletes, maybe it's the ads
Maybe it's the sports fans, maybe it's a fad
Maybe it's the magazines, maybe it's the internet
Maybe it's the lottery, maybe it's the immigrants
Maybe it's taxes, big business
Maybe it's the KKK and the skinheads
Maybe it's the communists, maybe it's the Catholics
Maybe it's the hippies, maybe it's the addicts
Maybe it's the art, maybe it's the sex
Maybe it's the homeless, maybe it's the banks
Maybe it's the clearcut, maybe it's the ozone
Maybe it's the chemicals, maybe it's the car phones
Maybe it's the fertilizer, maybe it's the nose rings
Maybe it's the end, but I know one thing.
If it were up to me, I'd take away the guns.

Opera

2007-04-05T19:38:21Z

I'm very fond of opera.

Now, on March 24th I attended the live broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera's Barber of Seville at our local cineplex. Suffice it to say, it was a most thoroughly enjoyable 3.5 hrs. The performances were fresh and exciting. It would be well worth catching this when it shows up on PBS in May.!

So, I have been humming some of the catchier bits from this particular opera ever since.... which prompted a close friend who will remain nameless to quip " isn't that from Bugs Bunny?" Oh dear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTydGEYdVbE

Intolerance

2007-03-17T17:38:39Z

“What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.” Robert F Kennedy

Ain't that the truth!

Another year - 2007

2007-01-15T20:01:00Z

It's looking like 2007 is going to be the "make-or break" year, caught in the gravity well of an entrepreneurial Black Hole.... Everything I've ever done (on the work front) is now rapidly gaining momentum as it coalesces into one large idea/opportunity (The Project) and hurtles towards what awaits .... From what I can see there are three equally possible outcomes:

1. The Project will falter and fail - leaving me a bit poorer and probably headed straight towards retirement (ie-golf course) where I will never again concern myself with the print industry or technology.

2. The Project will half-way succeed - generating reasonable enough money to judge it a success as a company, but ultimately leading to the dissatisfaction of knowing I failed to fully realize the vision behind The Project.... because of this I will slowly lose interest and, although a bit richer, drift towards retirement (ie- golf course).

3. The Project will explode into a most wonderful, powerful, enriching, leap forward in the annal's of the evolution of print. Cool huh!!! The face of the print industry will be shaken (not stirred) and I will bask in the glow of having created something meaningful and fulfilling.... because of this I will have the motivation to never retire and the staff to spend a fair amount of time on the golf course!!!

So - in summary - all roads lead to the golf course! How cool is that!

Dancing Dogs

2006-06-30T04:42:40Z

Now that we have our puppy Max, I've been interested in training him and doing some fun things .. so I was looking at activities like flyball and agility training.... when suddenly I came upon THIS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlyN0L4IMck&search=Canine%20Freestyle%20Dog%20Dance%20dachshund%20doxie%20adorable

Doggy dancing!!! I'm not sure I have the patience to teach this to a dachshund but gee it sure looks like fun !!!

Dogs, Cats, and RAW FOOD

2006-05-31T01:31:57Z

Ok here's the deal ... when I got Max (my puppy) it was a long process. First locating a good breeder, then waiting for the litter to be born, then visitation while waiting for him to get old enough to leave his mom. During all of this I got to like the breeder very much and was picking her brains about the breed. She has been showing(primarily) and occasionally breeding dogs for over 30 yrs so she must know a thing or three right?

Well, apparently she switched her dogs diet 5 yrs ago to the BARF diet which stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food. So my little guy was eating raw food! Of course I had owned a dog and cat in the past and , like most people, was told that high quality kibble was the best thing to feed ... you know.. science diet and the stuff the vets sell. Never give your dogs bones! All that crap.

So I was a bit nervous about raw food but I'm also extremely curious and decided to do as much research as I could. I mean, if so many professionals who show dogs use this diet what's up with that? The short story is that after weeks of research I ended up completely convinced BARF is absolutely the way to go ... so Max is a BARF dog and I'm very comfortable with the whole thing. As a matter of fact I'm more than comfortable.

So now, here I am one day producing home prepared raw diet meals for my dog and feeding kibble to my cat when I think ... gee, if raw is so good for dogs who are omnivores, I wonder why I'm feeding kibble to the cat who is a pure carnivore! OK... more research. Short story .... I just started on the raw food for the cat a week ago.(the diet is slightly different from the dogs with more muscle meat) She loves it. Her energy level has increased noticeably. Her fur has gotten quite lush and she sheds much less. All this in a freakin' week!! Her litter box is very clean because the stools are much smaller and less often (there is very little material in this diet that isn't processed and used by the body apparently), plus there is NO ODOR. Not even odor from the urine. Plus I see that she is starting to firm up and is a bit leaner, (she was getting to be a fat, lazy cat over the past year). Amazing.

A musical interlude

2006-05-24T02:25:12Z

Have you ever wondered what a scotsman wears under his kilt?

Here's a little ditty then:

http://www.daveamason.com/april/mp3/Scotts%2Emp3

And now for something completely different...

2006-05-13T01:34:22Z

Ok ... I have a confession... I LOVE my WIENER!

Yes it's true ..... no no , not this kind of wiener

I'm talking about our 5 month old miniature dachshund

Maximillian Doi Doi Johansson ... Max for Short (erm no pun intended)..

It's funny, because I didnt' really want another dog, and am not exactly sure how this happened .... but we found Max and now it seems that I've fallen in love with the little bugger. He's currently 8 pounds of attitude - stubborn, spunky, and full of himself. When he jumps all 4 feet leave the ground. When people pass he growls and they invariably laugh because he's just too tiny to be seen as threatening I guess. But, tiny or not, he's all dog. He's all wiener and I love him.

Something is Brewing - and it ain't bourbon

2006-05-12T02:50:17Z

I sure am reading a lot these days. Problem is, it's all over the map. I end up with all these random ideas that somehow seem linked to me. I can't explain HOW they link - I simply feel that they are. It all needs to be put down as some conhesive whole but I currently lack the ability to do so - lack of skill perhaps. Still, I save the quotes to hang on to as catalysts.

To paraphrase Albert Einstein: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."

HEAVY
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

HISTORY
Bernard Lewis had written of history's power. "Make no mistake, those who are unwilling to confront the past will be unable to understand the present and unfit to face the future."

BELIEF - We must decide whether to believe or to think? hmm - maybe.
“Be more willing to be right without belief than wrong with it.” Hoffman

"Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief. Apparently the faith -- I thought it faith -- which enables me to pray for the other dead has seemed strong only because I have never really cared, not desperately, whether they existed or not. Yet I thought I did." CS Lewis A Grief Observed

OPORTUNITY - Thomas Edison said of opportunity, it's missed by most people because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Rachel Corrie play cancelled - musings

2006-03-01T16:18:51Z

I remember having conceptual difficulties with Darwin in High School. Evolution theory was intellectually understandable, but to be honest, really pondering the implication of these infintesimal genetic changes over millions of years was outside my framework of thinking. My 16 yr old brain (like most 16 yr old brains) was really not able to fully appreciate the ponderous scope of time.

Of course, now I am 53 and time has taken on a distinctly different flavor. I realize the difference between revolution and evolution. One is an erratic artifice of humans, the other is an inescapable force of nature.

The nice thing about this realization is that it brings with it a certain peace. I no longer have the restless longing of youth, to thrust unbidden opinions forward, to demand that civilization be more civil than it currently is, to force change upon the world. I have learned that although there is much in the world of human behavior to be disappointed in, there is also much in the world that is wonderful and quite extraordinary.

This play is not the first work of art to have faced resistance, nor will it be the last. The New York Theater Workshop's decision is not unique but neither is it universal. The point is that we keep trying to evolve, that we keep trying to understand, that we keep trying to tolerate .. that we keep trying period.

"And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." disiderata

More Strange musings

2006-01-30T22:38:52Z

We are affected by all the relationships we have ever had. The pain we have inflicted binds us to the people who bore the brunt of it.

And so you come not only damaged and frightened and imperfect, but even imperfectly free. You are attached to all the people you have ever known and hurt and been hurt by and grew up with.

More Musings

2006-01-17T01:05:30Z

Cosmopolitanism: David Held London School of Economics

"It's the job of intellectuals, activists, social movements, etc. to call hypocrisy by its right name. The West has been at the forefront of creating legal mechanisms to sue against crimes against humanity and genocide. It seems to me it did so for very important and profound reasons. We have to remind these very same powerful countries what those reasons were, and also to scrutinize and criticize their own foreign and defence policy in relation to those very same standards. Needless to say, there is a long way to go in this regard.

In my view, liberal cosmopolitanism or democratic cosmopolitanism, as I prefer to call it, is the basis for articulating and entrenching the equal liberty of all human beings, wherever they were born or brought up. It is the basis of underwriting the liberty of others, not of obliterating it. It's about protecting and nurturing the autonomy of each and every person so that they can determine the framework of their own lives. But 'equal liberty' means that individual choices and life projects can only be pursued legitimately to the extent that they not distort or coerce the lives of others. And to the extent that they do, they must be checked and held accountable - locally, nationally, regionally and globally. The arguments for cosmopolitan democracy recognize the importance of enjoying autonomy and difference, but not of affirming asymmetries of power which pervade the life chances of others. If transnational power systems are to be held accountable, we have to have legal and institutional arrangements to make that possible. Cosmopolitan democracy is one proposal for this.

There is no inevitability of history, no inevitable progressive change. They are the changes that you and I decide to make. Illegitimate asymmetries of power need to be exposed and challenged wherever we find them - in culture, politics or economics. Whether the globalization of communications becomes a force that leads to greater understanding, transparency, harmony and so on is up to us. So we could just shrug and leave it to a world of big states and unregulated markets. Or, we can argue that we have to create new forms of transparency and accountability, new forms of democracy, and more effective regulation which can subject these processes to greater political control and management. The idea of cosmopolitan democracy belongs to this latter consideration - a refusal to leave pressing regional and global issues to the simple interests of particular parties, states or market forces."

Overlapping communities of fate-where the fate of different peoples is interconnected, set either by powerful states or by processes - from financial markets to the environment - which are global in their scope and ramifications.

Cynics and Stoics: Asked where he came from, the ancient Greek Cynic philosopher Diogenes replied, "I am a citizen of the world." He meant by this, it appears, that he refused to be defined by his local origins and local group memberships, so central to the self-image of a conventional Greek male; he insisted on defining himself in terms of more universal aspirations and concerns. The Stoics who followed his lead developed his image of the kosmou politês or world citizen more fully, arguing that each of us dwells, in effect, in two communities -- the local community of our birth, and the community of human argument and aspiration that "is truly great and truly common, in which we look neither to this corner nor to that, but measure the boundaries of our nation by the sun" (Seneca, De Otio). It is this community that is, most fundamentally, the source of our moral obligations. With respect to the most basic moral values such as justice, "we should regard all human beings as our fellow citizens and neighbors" (Plutarch, On the Fortunes of Alexander).