Reading Homer, Iliad IV Updated 08/30
In the fourth book of the Iliad, the gods begin to reveal their great power, though it is neither unlimited nor unanimous. It is very easy to misread their role.
Yearly Archive: 2023
GOP Debate: Trump as “Jaws”
I always enjoy these presidential debates. The one this Wednesday should be a hoot. The main subject, of course, will be Trump, who won’t be there. Chris Christie has less chance of becoming president than I do. But this is his 15 minutes of fame. So he blasted, “Are You a Chicken or Just a Loser?” The Spanish-language La Opinion headlined, “Chris Christie arremete en contra de Donald Trump llamándolo cobard.” [Chris Christie lashes out against Donald Trump calling him coward.] The reality is Trump knows how to build drama. He was a successful “reality TV” show host for...
The Worst Things Since Sliced Bread II
In the first installment, we talked a great deal–as the title would suggest–about food and food technology. There is an unlimited number of topics, ranging from gardening to travel to the virtualization of reality. This week I propose clothing.
Your Sons – and Daughters – Soon Could Die in Niger
As America soon could become embroiled in yet another war. This time in Niger, a small country in Africa. Like Ukraine, most Americans couldn’t find it on a map even if you promised them a trip to Disneyland.
The Last Spaceship: A Culture Game
There is a game I play lately, probably a symptom of old age. If I was on the last spaceship leaving a dying Earth and I could take 10 books, what would they be? (Of course, since it is a game, you could expand it to 20 or 50.)
Wednesday’s Child: More Professionals
The duty officer at the carabinieri station looked like Rembrandt in the famous self-portrait at Kenwood House, all noble lines and wrinkles, but appearances can be deceiving. It transpired that he fancied himself a thoroughly modern man of the world, roseately au fait with the digital revolution, and it gave him evident pleasure to put me down as a country bumpkin because when he said emay, I said “What’s that?”
Jack Smith, Kangaroo Courtier
Donald Trump wonders how a lowlife like Jack Smith can justify his illegal surveillance. It’s a fair question. How did an American lawyer get the idea that he was entitled to ignore the American legal system in order to gain a conviction?
The Editor Interviewed by Greek Newspaper
A visitor to Athens, Thomas Fleming agreed to meet me and the result was the interview you are about to read, which gives answers to major issues that concern modern man in the West
Mankind’s Dead End
Many writers—and I among them—have compared modern man’s acceptance of abortion with the infanticidal cults of Carthaginians and their Phoenician ancestors, whose rites are so often condemned in the Old Testament. This is to some extent unfair to the Phoenicians.
