Simanaitis Says

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Author Archives: simanaitissays

WILLIAM WALKER—FILIBUSTER EXTRAORDINAIRE PART 2

AS WE learned yesterday, the original meaning of the word “filibuster” meant a person, an irregular military adventurer, not a political stalling ploy as we commonly use it today. And, … Continue reading →

May 6, 2018 · Leave a comment

WILLIAM WALKER—FILIBUSTER EXTRAORDINAIRE PART 1

IN THESE times of less than cooperative members in the U.S. Congress, we’re all more familiar with the term “filibuster,” of endless oration to delay action. However, this particular meaning … Continue reading →

May 5, 2018 · Leave a comment

FROM THE RIO GRANDE TO THE CANAL ZONE PART 3

THANKS TO Harry Franck and Herbert C. Lanks, we’ve already accomplished a goodly portion of our virtual 1940 adventure from the Rio Grande to the Canal Zone. Today in Part … Continue reading →

May 4, 2018 · Leave a comment

FROM THE RIO GRANDE TO THE CANAL ZONE PART 2

HARRY FRANCK, the Prince of Vagabonds, chose for his 24th travel book an adventure with co-author Herbert C. Lanks: The Pan American Highway—From the Rio Grande to the Canal Zone, … Continue reading →

May 3, 2018 · Leave a comment

FROM THE RIO GRANDE TO THE CANAL ZONE PART 1

THE PAN AMERICAN Highway at different times means different things to different people. In today’s news, it is the arduous south-to-north trek of asylum seekers. To motorsports enthusiasts, there was … Continue reading →

May 2, 2018 · Leave a comment

WHACHAMACALLIT?

SCIENCE TYPICALLY avoids the word “whachamacallit,” which, with cool dictionary humor, Merriam-Webster defines as a “thingamajig.” What’s more, humor possibly thought rare for science is discussed in Gregory R. Goldsmith’s … Continue reading →

May 1, 2018 · Leave a comment

SCULPTURE OF THE STONE AGE

IT’S SAID THAT Michelangelo “liberated bodies that were trapped in blocks of marble.” And, hundreds of millennia before this, stone age hominins chipped away at stone to reveal tools and, … Continue reading →

April 29, 2018 · 3 Comments

SCIENCE TIDBITS PART 2

THE AMERICAN Association for the Advancement of Science publishes a weekly magazine, Science. Yesterday’s SimanaitisSays offered Part 1 of its recent tidbits. Here’s Part 2. Could artificial intelligences get the … Continue reading →

April 28, 2018 · Leave a comment

SCIENCE TIDBITS PART 1

I AM a science dilettante in the original sense of this word. “Dilettante,” which today may carry a sense of superficiality, comes from the Latin, dilectare, “to delight.” That is, … Continue reading →

April 27, 2018 · 2 Comments

PACIFIC OPERA PROJECT: “DON GIOVANNI”

WHAT WITH the past two days here at SimanaitisSays devoted to Mob Talk, it’s logical to follow up with a review of Pacific Opera Project’s Don Giovanni. Logical? Yes, because … Continue reading →

April 26, 2018 · Leave a comment