March 13th, 2023
Mark O'Brien
For almost 20 years, in my other life, I’ve worked with companies that sell software and services to insurance companies. As a result, it behooves me to stay abreast of developments in the insurance industry. So it is that I found the findings of a study, published by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA — […]
Read More
March 6th, 2023
Mark O'Brien
On March 1st, I went to an appointment with a new doctor. Well, he’s actually a very well-established doctor. But it was my first visit with him. I approached a receptionist who was seated behind an open, sliding window. I had a mask in my hand. I held it up so the receptionist could see […]
Read More
February 27th, 2023
Mark O'Brien
I recently had the opportunity to sit with the President in the Oval Office for a conversation about matters past and present. The transcript that follows has been edited for brevity and clarity. Editing it for sanity would have been too much of a stretch. In the transcript, I’m identified as YT (yours truly), and […]
Read More
January 23rd, 2023
Mark O'Brien
According to an article in The Atlantic, “Sudden Russian Death Syndrome”, rich, influential people around Vladimir Putin and in the greater Russian orbit seem to have developed a nasty habit of getting dead. In case the hyperlink above brings you to a paywall, here’s an excerpt from the article that lists a few of the […]
Read More
January 16th, 2023
Mark O'Brien
Sometime during my Holiday Season musings, I came across two posts from the editors at LinkedIn News. Since I detected no tongues in cheeks, I took them to be evidence of the extent to which we’ve become purely reactive; that is, in the absence of critical thinking, questioning, and anticipation, we observe and react. That’s […]
Read More
November 14th, 2022
Mark O'Brien
In case you missed the memo, kids, we’re in deep kimchi. That’s right. According to this measured and highly objective headline in that paragon of levelheadedness and evenhandedness, The Washington Post, “World has nine years to avert catastrophic warming, study shows.” See what I mean? We’re on the brink of an apocalyptic something or other, […]
Read More
November 7th, 2022
Mark O'Brien
An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry. (George Eliot, nee Mary Ann Evans) Here in Connecticut — the Nutmeg State, the Land of Steady Habits, the Constitution State, the Provisions State, the Blue Law State, the Freestone, and Brownstone State, […]
Read More
October 17th, 2022
Mark O'Brien
I’ve been having trouble with the notion of authenticity for quite some time. My first challenge is one of definition. According to dictionary.com, authentic, whence derives authenticity, is defined like this: adjective: 1. not false or copied; genuine 2. having an origin supported by unquestionable evidence; authenticated; verified 3. representing one’s true nature or beliefs; […]
Read More
October 10th, 2022
Mark O'Brien
As the obsessive language freak I happen to be, I’m always sensitive to new expressions creeping into the vernacular. Most frequently, those expressions are meaningless; that is, they don’t actually express anything of substance. But they’re valuable for what they signal. And they signal four things about the people who use them. Those people: Likely […]
Read More
September 1st, 2022
Mark O'Brien
“An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry.” (George Eliot) As it pertains to the outcome of the midterm elections on November 8th, we’ve been hearing terms like shellacking, landslide, bloodbath, tsunami, wipeout, cataclysm, apocalypse, and fuggedaboudit. One can only hope […]
Read More