Category: Access
Under the Shadow
This is a slightly revised version of an essay (published about 9 years ago) inspired by a re-reading of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. I had earlier exchanged letters with the author and published his brief introduction to a re-edition of his masterpiece.
Pius IX, Conclusion
When the revolution broke out again in 1848, Pius IX had been Pope for only two years. He had spent those two years well, reforming the government of the papal states especially the criminal justice system, rooting out corruption, imposing stricter discipline on the clergy.
Wednesday’s Child: Shock of the New
Suppressing the pangs of guilty conscience like a recidivist pickpocket – Conscience? What a load of hooey! – I’m taking my four-year-old to Burger King.
Greek I.32: The Optative Mood
Ancient Greek has four moods/modes. Like Latin, Italian, French, and Modern Greek, it has indicative for statements and questions of fact, imperative for commands, subjunctive to express uncertainty or probability, and Optative
Harold Lloyd, the Bespectacled Everyman by Vince Cornell
Harold Lloyd, the last member of the trio of early cinema’s silent clowns, is simultaneously highly recognized and completely forgotten.
Pope Pius IX, Part I
This is a revised version of a talk given to a group of high school history teachers in Louisiana in 2007.: Pius IX, an almost forgotten “great man”
Wednesday’s Child: The Ship of State
As I noted here a month ago, my interest in the Titanic originated in my four-year-old’s obsession with the maritime disaster, which I had at first found as inexplicable as other children’s obsession with dinosaurs.
The Peace President Goes To War
Some of my friends are supporting Trump’s intervention in Venezuela and, likely, again in Iran. Ok, we disagree, but let’s remain friends. Politics divides too often.
