TRUMP AND HIS GIFTED USED BOEING 747-800
FOR A SELF-PROFESSED HYPERDEALER, TRUMP SURE SCREWED UP BIG with his gifted used 747-800. And, as is often the case, we’re being stuck with the outcome. Here are tidbits gleaned … Continue reading
ON LAUNCHING 1000 SHIPS AND BURNING TOPLESS TOWERS PART 2
YESTERDAY WE BEGAN EXAMINING THE BROUHAHA of casting Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Today in Part 2, Odyssey authority Daniel Mendelsohn continues his analyses. In time, we hear as well from … Continue reading
ON LAUNCHING 1000 SHIPS AND BURNING TOPLESS TOWERS PART 1
NADIRA GOFFE PUTS IT SUCCINCTLY in her movie review, “What Did Helen of Troy Look Like? That’s the Wrong Question to Ask,” Slate, July 17, 2026: “Lupita Nyong’o plays the … Continue reading
THE ART OF WAR PART 2
ARMED CONFLICTS HAVE BEEN VARIOUSLY PORTRAYED in works of art. Here in Part 2, we discuss two examples, one celebratory and the other disturbing in a most timely manner. Washington … Continue reading
THE ART OF WAR PART 1
NO, I’M BEING MUCH MORE LITERAL than Sun Tzu’s 5th-century B.C. military treatise of this title. I’m prompted by recent mention of three notable works of art: the visit of … Continue reading
TRUMP—AND TWO MEANINGS OF THE WORD “PITCH” PART 2
SIMON SKINNER GAVE US AN INFORMATIVE INTRODUCTION to international football with his LRB “ ‘I Wouldn’t Pay It Either’ ” book review of Jonathan Wilson’s The Power and the Glory: … Continue reading
TRUMP—AND TWO MEANINGS OF THE WORD “PITCH” PART 1
THIS TALE WAS PROMPTED INITIALLY BY Simon Skinner’s giant (15,601 words!) “ ‘I Wouldn’t Pay It Either,’ ” his June 25, 2026, London Review of Books review of Jonathan Wilson’s … Continue reading
REALITY 101 PART 2
YESTERDAY WE CALLED FOR REALITY ASSESSMENTS of warfare and the crypto meme scam. Today in Part 2, Mother Nature fact-checks Trump’s climate con, her weather cancels his ego games, and, … Continue reading
REALITY 101 PART 1
SO MANY RECENT TRAGEDIES MIGHT HAVE BEEN AVOIDED with a course in Reality 101. Its syllabus would include basics of elementary history, economics, science, and medicine. In Parts 1 and … Continue reading
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!
THIS, OF COURSE, IS THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY of the ongoing political-social experiment defining the United States of America. Here are tidbits gleaned from the past—and from the present—on this occasion. … Continue reading
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