1. From my Classical History course this week, I learned that during the First Punic War a certain Roman consul wanted to attack the Carthaginian fleet, but the augurs warned him that it would be a disaster. The sacred chickens weren't eating, and that was a bad omen. The consul replied, "They won't eat? Let … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: History, Economics, and RIP Carl Weathers
Month: February 2024
Wednesday Politics: On America’s Military Record and Its Consequences
"America has never lost and will never lose a war" says Patton in the opening speech of the classic film. This, of course, rang sadly ironic to audiences in 1970 as the Vietnam War wound down, and is even more so today, though as someone pointed out, even at the time it required Patton to … Continue reading Wednesday Politics: On America’s Military Record and Its Consequences
Poem – “A Land Without Ruins”
"A land without ruins is a land without memories --a land without memories is a land without history.A land that wears a laurel crown may be fair to see;but twine a few sad cypress leaves around the brow of any land,and be that land barren, beautiless and bleak, it becomes lovelyin its consecrated coronet of … Continue reading Poem – “A Land Without Ruins”
Friday Flotsam: US History, Nintendo Games, and Dialogue
1. My US History classes this week have been entirely consumed by summarizing the course of the Civil War, and we've only gotten to the end of 1863. That's after about two weeks of going over the lead-up to the war. There is just so much to go over, even from my relatively superficial knowledge … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: US History, Nintendo Games, and Dialogue