The Fleming Foundation Cultural Commentary

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Free Content

10 Apr, 2017

The Balkans Powder Keg, Again (FREE CONTENT)

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It’s a complete mess! The Balkans are becoming once again the powder keg of the European continent.   In the turbulent nineties, the peninsula experienced the creation of several artificial states, such as Kosovo, Bosnia and FYROM, that became cradles of Islamic terrorism as well as headquarters for criminal organizations.  Now, once again, Balkan governments are undermining the stability of Europe. Everywhere we look, there is trouble. Belgrade is plagued by antigovernment rallies and protests. The population of tiny Montenegro sharply is divided over NATO membership.  In Athens the leftist gang in power has opened the Greek and therefore European border...

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Autodidact / Feature / Fleming

8 Apr, 2017

Samuel Johnson, Our Greatest Moralist: Conclusion

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In his moral writings, Dr. Johnson showed himself a devotee to  duty almost on the level with Robert E. Lee’s, who described it as “the sublimest word in the English language, adding,  “You should do your duty in all things. You can never do more, you should never wish to do less.”   The concept of duty has been somewhat tarnished by Victorian moralists who too often seem to be advocating the virtue of prigs, and, worse, by  philosophers who, since the 18th century,  have got into the habit of regarding all duties as abstract, universal, and rational. A locus classicus for this approach...

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FF / Podcasts / Season 1 / TBR

7 Apr, 2017

The Best Revenge, Episode 7: Pasta alla Norma

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On this episode devoted to “Pasta alla Norma,” Thomas Fleming and Chef Garret Fleming talk about Sicilian markets, the history of eggplant, and even the preparation of this classic Sicilian pasta. Original Air Date: April 7, 2017 Show Run Time: 46 minutes Show Guest(s): Chef Garret Fleming Show Host(s): Dr. Thomas Fleming The Fleming Foundation · The Best Revenge, Episode 7: Pasta alla Norma   The Best Revenge℗ is a Production of the Fleming Foundation. Copyright 2017. All rights are reserved and any duplication without explicit written permission is forbidden.

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Fleming / From Under The Rubble

7 Apr, 2017

Trump–Chump or Caesar?

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The Russians have rightly condemned the US missile attack on Syria as a criminal act of aggression against a sovereign state.  I italicized the last phrase because it indicates a certain mental clarity on the part of Putin and his advisors:  Their own acts of criminal aggression are justifiable, apparently, so long as they are not directed against a state that holds undisputed sovereignty over a country or region.  John Seiler has made an excellent case that this may be the beginning of the end of the Trump administration.  He is probably right, but as a lifelong contrarian, I am going...

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All Paid Subscribers / Feature / Seiler

7 Apr, 2017

War Could End the Trump Administration

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It didn’t take long for President Trump to let the dogs of war bite him. Item: He just attacked Syria with a “targeted military stroke” on an airfield supposedly used by President Assad for chemical attacks. But what if reports the chemical weapons are “fake news”? The reports came from the U.S. intelligence community, which hates Trump and, as we now know, relentlessly spied on him, his family and his campaign, while conjuring up the fake news of his collusion with Russia. Why would Syria use chemical weapons, bringing condemnation on itself, it it’s now winning the war against the...

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FF / ISL / Podcasts / Season 1

6 Apr, 2017

Islam: The Real Truth About the “Religion of Peace”, Episode 1

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In this episode which is made specially for our Charter Subscribers, Dr. Srdja Trifkovic defines the texts we will be referring to, specifically the Koran, sunna, hadiths, and the system of cataloguing the Koran in “suras.” He goes on to discuss the type of world that Mohammed, the so-called prophet, was born into, the types of religion practiced in that part of the world, and the development of Islam prior to the taking of Mecca. Original Air Date: April 6, 2017 Show Run Time: 41 minutes Show Guest(s): Dr. Srdja Trifkovic Show Host(s): Stephen Heiner The Fleming Foundation · Islam:...

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All Paid Subscribers / Andrei Navrozov / Feature / Wednesday's Child

5 Apr, 2017

Wednesday’s Child: The Möbius Syndrome

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The Möbius strip, twisting back on itself in an endless loop, is how most people visualize the past, present, and – consequently – future of civilization. This seamless plane of recurrence is punctuated by popular historical concepts, such as “tyranny,” “slavery,” “war,” “revolution,” “famine,” “torture,” or else by such allegedly universal memes as “family,” “happiness”, or “wealth.”  Even those hysterically optimistic punters who believe that the history of civilization is progressive – which would imply that its topography is less like the closed loop than like an upwardly mobile parabola – cannot escape the pervasive myth of endless recurrence enshrined...

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Feature / Fleming

4 Apr, 2017

Mat Rarey, RIP

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I learned today, from several sources, that my former assistant Matthew Rarey has died.  Mat was still a young man.  I have no idea, at this point, what happened, but he had been very troubled in recent years. He yearned for the best, and if he often fell short, he was hardly different from the rest of us.  I’ll write more later, perhaps, since Mat kept in constant touch with me.

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Free Content

4 Apr, 2017

The Imperial and Momentary We by Clyde Wilson (FREE)

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This piece was originally published in Chronicles Magazine, October 2012.  It has been republished on the website of the Abbeville Institute.  Prof. Wilson has also given permission to put it on Fleming.Foundation in the hope that it will stimulate a lively discussion. “O Fame, O Fame! Many a man ere this Of no account hast thou set up on high.” —Boethius “It is a kind of baby talk, a puerile and wind­blown gibberish. . . . In content it is a vacuum.” —H.L. Mencken on Warren G. Harding’s speeches Americans are a practical people. They don’t want to hear your...

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Feature / Fleming / From Under The Rubble

4 Apr, 2017

The O’ Reilly–Rotten from the Beginning

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In the current tempest in a teapot over Bill O’Reilly’s allegedly indecent behavior toward women, no one seems willing to state the obvious:  The fellow–by no means a man–is both a bully and a toady, the embodiment of the lying conservative journalism at FOX.  This is a corrected and improved version of a Perspective published long long ago in 2001.   Some celebrities seem born with a natural star-power that radiates from them like an angelic halo.  Alcibiades, so it is said, had this kind of “charisma,” to make himself adored even by people who disliked him.  To be a...