The Athenian Plague, Part II
It was the social and moral dimension of the pestilence that most attracted the analytical mind of Thucydides. Some perished through want of attention, while others, falling into despair, gave up the fight.
Category: Access
End of March Birthdays
Wilhelm Roentgen, Leonard Nimoy, Gorky, Cy Young, Vincent Van Gogh, Eric Clapton, Mehmed II the Conqueror, Herb Alpert, Edward Fitzgerald
Corona Corona Blues, Side A
Once upon a time there were Lennon and McCartney, and before them Rodgers and Hart, Gilbert and Sullivan, Rimsky and Korsakov (old joke), and now the inspired song-writing team of Fleming and Scott offer this their first recording…..
Wednesday’s Child: Sicilian Defense 4
The title of the present series of posts, as I’m confident the gentle reader realizes, refers to a popular chess opening whereby Black, who by the rules of the game is a move behind, essentially cedes to White control of the center, using its energies to build up a rival alternative until the timing may be right for a Sicilian Vespers. The Sicilian’s motto, “lie low,” is writ large upon this strategy, and the knack of invisible resistance to domination by central government – whether Arab, Norman, or a myriad others leading up to the present day – is dormant...
Why the Economy Should Recover Fast from Coronavirus Panic
On the economics of the coronavirus panic, scholars and editorialists commonly have compared it to the Great Depression, World War II, the Great Recession of a decade ago or some other event, but…the best comparison is what is ironically called “The Great Depression of 1946,” because there was no Great Depression, or even a small recession.
More Belated March birthdays
Broncho Billy and Elton John, JS Bachand Leonard Joseph (Chico) Marx, Fannie Farmer and Gail Clark Fleming, Harry Houdini and Saint Catherine of Siena.
Quarantined in the City of Light
While Paris started the year in the midst of a transportation strike that the strikers by and large lost in the end, there was only a brief respite for the hospitality industry as the specter of the global panic pandemic landed in Europe and then worked its way west.
Corona Corona 5
More good news: You’re probably not living in New Orleans and do not have to face the reality of its mayor, LaToya Cantrell, who is predictably blaming the Federal Government and President Trump for her costly decision not to cancel Mardi Gras.
The Literature of Plagues: An Upcoming Discussion
Since there is no sign of this plague letting up—I am referring to the plague of hysteria that has descended upon the world—we may as well make the most of it by considering what we can learn by reading great literary accounts of previous plagues.
More March Birthdays
Torquato Tasso, and James Taylor, and Shemp Howard, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Hart Benton, and Roger Taney, Albert Einstein, Jerry Lewis, and Neil Sedaka, George Berkeley and Wyatt Earp, Fustel de Coulanges and Ovid ….
