A CONNIVING, DECEITFUL, MURDEROUS OKLAHOMAN
THIS IS a tale of an Oklahoman who was entrusted with preserving environment and culture. Alas, he turned out to be conniving, deceitful, and, in time, murderous. A memo to … Continue reading
TO A MORE APPROPRIATE KINGDOM, THIS TRULY COULDN’T HAPPEN
A TEXTBOOK is being withdrawn from Saudi Arabian schools because it contains a photo of the late King Faisal, a Saudi prince at the time, signing the UN Charter in … Continue reading
DEDICATED, SIGNED, AND (MAYBE WARMLY) INSCRIBED
A RENEWAL notice from London Review of Books told a good story: “George Bernard Shaw once saw a copy of one of his books in a secondhand bookshop. When he … Continue reading
MENTION HIS NAME IN ROJAVA…
I’D NEVER HEARD of Murray Bookchin, but this American political theorist and his beliefs are celebrated in Rojava, the Democratic Federal System of Northern Syria, and, at one time, in … Continue reading
CHOCOLATE, QUAKERS AND THE E.U.
CHOCOLATE CONFECTIONS led me off in different directions. Britain’s Cadbury chocolates ending up in Poland is the principal theme of James Meek’s “Somerdale to Skarbimierz,” in the April 20, 2017, … Continue reading
THE BEST OF LINES
“I WISH I HAD said that,” Oscar Wilde remarked. “You will, Oscar, you will,” responded James McNeill Whistler. I’ve often shared Oscar Wilde’s wish, though the fear of stumbling into … Continue reading
LOCKHEED MARTIN F-35—THE FINAL GENERATION?
MY INTERESTS in aviation are few beyond its Golden Age of the 1930s. However, I’m fascinated by the overwhelming technicalities of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. … Continue reading
UTOPIA REVISITED
“UTOPIA IN TEXAS” by Glen Newey in the London Review of Books, January 19, 2017, provides counterpoint to my recent review of four dystopian novels here at SimanaitisSays. Not that … Continue reading
RIFFING OFF
I CONFESS TO being sometimes a little behind the identification of trends. For example, in the November 3, 2016, issue of the London Review of Books I learned the term … Continue reading