The Fleming Foundation Cultural Commentary
Essay: Sade, the Prophet of Modernity
The greatest of the philosophes, the Marquis de Sade, took the Enlightenment to the ultimate conclusion. God did not exist; religion and morality were invented to repress mankind; therefore, rape, torture, and multi-sexual orgies were all part of a program for liberating the human spirit from the shackles of Christianity.
Putin’s War–A Few Caveats
I have been a Russophile since covering the Balkans in the mid-90’s as a journalist and news photographer. I appreciated the Russian volunteers who fought and died for Bosnian Serb sovereignty and UNPROFOR in Bosnia and East Slavonia.
I have been a Russophile since covering the Balkans in the mid-90’s as a journalist and news photographer. I appreciated the Russian volunteers who fought and died for Bosnian Serb sovereignty and UNPROFOR in Bosnia and East Slavonia.
New Holiday: Aug. 29: First Lightning Day
I’m starting a new holiday: August 29: First Lightning Day. That was when the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb, ending America’s nuclear monopoly.
Wednesday’s Child: Toys “R” Not Us
I fear I may be becoming a kind of Mumsnet figure, jettisoning a past of decadence and dissolution, shelving a present of geopolitical awareness and acumen, and at last becoming more or less competent to answer young mothers’ anxious questions about which talcum powder is best value for money.
Wednesday’s Child: In Fairyland
What are you doing, I would ask my father towards the end of his life, telephoning him in New York from a succession of tramontane regions that were, to him, as inconsequential as they were exotic. Invariably he would give the same answer: “I am lying in bed waiting for world fame.” World fame never did fall to his share, yet this does not mean that his methodology was flawed.
Help Wanted
We are exploring the possibility of doing a few small events to launch Dr. Fleming’s latest book, The Reign of Love. One of the events would certainly be in Rockford. If you would like to assist in planning an event in your locale, please contact us at your earliest convenience.
Poems by Conrad Aiken
These hills are sandy. Trees are dwarfed here. Crows
Caw dismally in skies of an arid brilliance,
Complain in dusty pine-trees. Yellow daybreak
Lights on the long brown slopes a frost-like dew,
Choosing the Future
Nations make choices, usually unconsciously, though it is too late, when a later generation complains about their teeth being set on edge, to refuse to drink the cup of sour wine that was offered to their fathers.
