In the Atlantic, James Fallows reports on the Ancient Rome and Modern American analogies. Now, chapter four: crossing the Rubicon. Schnurer argues that this is more than just a familiar phrase. And he says that a U.S. Rubicon moment is in view—which would be triggered by a possible indictment of Donald Trump. At the end … [Read more…]
Charles H. Loeb defied the American military’s denials and propaganda to show how deadly radiation from the strike on Hiroshima sickened and killed. In the New York Times today is an account of the work of Charles Loeb, an American war correspondent in the Pacific in World War II.
Over at the New York Times is a obituary about Ilona Royce Smithkin who lived a unique life.
In the NY Times: Roberto Calasso, Renaissance Man of Letters, Dies at 80 A Florentine by birth, he was a polymath as an author and publisher (Kafka, Verdic philosophy, Greek mythology) who reached a wide international readership. In “The Art of the Publisher,” his reflections on his decades in publishing, Mr. Calasso was diffident about … [Read more…]
In a Washington Post obituary, accomplishments and life of Dr. Paul Auerbach, pioneer of wilderness and disaster medicine, are detailed. Even with his extensive training in medical emergencies, Dr. Auerbach was unprepared for the devastation he encountered when he volunteered to travel to Haiti to care for victims of the earthquake that struck the Caribbean … [Read more…]
In an obituary today in the NY Times describes the life of William H. Regnery II, “Buzzfeed called him ‘the most influential racist you’ve never heard of.’ ” It is interesting to me as I’m wondering of late who the people are who are bankrolling the alt-right, other than the Murdoch and Koch families. Here … [Read more…]
A nice obituary, by Alexis Petridis on the Guardian for Jon Hassell, a musician who blew me away in 1980 with sounds I couldn’t categorize. I still can’t. as Eno put it, “one overriding principle in Jon’s work [was] that of respect – he looks at the world with all its momentary and evanescent moods … [Read more…]
Chad Kalepa Baybayan Seafarer Who Sailed Using the Stars, Dies at 64 He was a torchbearer for the celestial navigation art known as wayfinding, which ancestral Polynesian sailors used to navigate the Pacific Ocean. From a NYT obituary, May 15,2021
The Rozz-Tox Manifesto Gary Panter (1980) tem 1: The avant-garde is no corpus. It merely lies in shock after an unfortunate bout with its own petard. It feigns sleep but one eye glitters and an involuntary twitch in the corner of the mouth belies a suppressed snicker. The giggle of coming awake at one’s own … [Read more…]
I just want to say “Thank you!” to Robinson Meyer, Alexis C. Madrigal and teams at the Atlantic for bringing the COVID Tracking Project to life and helping us through the last year. The summary of their experiences can be read about here: Why the Pandemic Experts Failed We’re still thinking about pandemic data in … [Read more…]