MESOPOTAMIAN STEW, SORTA PART 1
THERE’S INTELLECTUAL SATISFACTION in communing with past civilizations. Maybe it’s the grandeur of Rome’s Pantheon or the serenity of Kamakura’s Daibutsu. Or the culinary comfort of “What the Mesopotamians Had … Continue reading
UNEXPECTED RECOLLECTIONS PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE LAMENTED WITH NEW YORKERS the news that “WCBS Radio, the Soundtrack of Countless Cab Rides, Goes Quiet.” Today in Part 2, one of the station’s early DJs Bill … Continue reading
UNEXPECTED RECOLLECTIONS PART 1
MEMORIES ARE OFT REKINDLED quite routinely. Such as reading Corey Kilgannon’s “WCBS Radio, the Soundtrack of Countless Cab Rides, Goes Quiet,” in The New York Times, August 13, 2024. Hmm… … Continue reading
WOULD YOU BUY A USED/NEW CAR FROM THIS GUY?
AS REPORTED BY VOICE OF AMERICA, July 28, 2024, “A manipulated video that mimics the voice of Vice President Kamala Harris saying things she did not say is raising concerns … Continue reading
ENVIRONMENTAL SUCCESSES—OTHERS TO COME
WHAT WITH SUMMERS OF WITHERING HEAT across the country, indeed worldwide (45º Celsius = 113 Fahrenheit), only the dimmest of bulbs these days deny climate change. (You may remember, it … Continue reading
SPEEDY OLYMPICS
“HOW FAST IS THAT GOING?” asks a fascinating question posed by Jeremy White, Joe Ward, Noah Throop, Emily Rhyme, and Bedel Saget in The New York Times, July 24, 2024. … Continue reading
ART LOST BY SCHOOLGIRLS—SOME 350 YEARS AGO
WHAT A FIND! BRITAIN’S NATIONAL TRUST reports discovery of “A Display of 17th Century Papercuts,” July 15, 2024. Fallen Through Sutton House Floorboards. “Originally built for one of Henry VIII’s … Continue reading
POOR EX-PRESIDENT TRUMP
WHAT WITH A VERY BUSY NEWS WEEK, victim-extraodinaire Donald Trump has been displaced by Joe and Kamala. Poor him. To counter this Trumpian ennui, today’s SimanaitisSays recounts several past Trump … Continue reading
ANXIETY AND THE SMARTPHONE
IT’S RARE THAT AAAS Science magazine and London Review of Books share substantial overlap. However, Science Editor-in-Chief H. Holden Thorp’s editorial “Unsettled Science on Social Media,” Science, June 19, 2024, … Continue reading
HOW COME PILLS ARE (OFTEN) IN ORANGE BOTTLES?
CHARLOTTE HILTON ANDERSEN offers interesting tidbits, “This is the Real Reason Pill Bottles are Orange,” in Reader’s Digest, July 1, 2024. Charlotte writes, “As a child who had to take … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 