2,688 words

Those money-makers and power-seekers who would sacrifice anybody and anything — the whole world — to their personal ends. . . hide their cynical self-centredness under a noisy lip-adherence to the dogma of the “dignity of all men” . . . while bus[il]y causing, directly or indirectly, in view of their goal, the suffering and death of any number of human beings. . . (more…)

Illustration by the author

3,732 words

In November of 2009, I had been living in St. Louis for nine years, and my apartment complex was in a suburb bordering the city. It had gone through a rough patch before I signed my lease, cleaning out drug dealers and such. My years there were quiet and orderly. The rent was reasonable, the location a ten-minute drive from my downtown job as a security guard, and the apartment was a cozy one-bedroom. (more…)