How to Pick a Fight with Kris Kristofferson (or, The Importance of Talking about Freedom)
on Jan 1, 2009 in Uncategorized language politics america Andrew Bacevich freedom meaning The Limits of Power “Yet even as they celebrate freedom, Americans exempt the object of their veneration from critical examination.  In our public discourse, freedom is not so much a word or even a value as an incantation, its very mention enough to stifle doubt..

We’re Not Rome…
on Dec 31, 2008 in Greece Rome neuroticism america-as-athens america-as-rome Andrew Bacevich The Limits of Power … we’re Athens circa 431 BC.  At least that’s what starting Andrew Bacevich’s The Limits of Powerabout a week after a book on the Peloponnesian War seems to imply.  Athens in 431 not in the sense of faced with Spa

Facts Are Stubborn Things
on Dec 30, 2008 in language literature defending Troy George Orwell meaning George Packer Virginia Woolf George Packer, in his introduction to Facing Unpleasant Facts, a collection of Orwell’s narrative essays, says of “Shooting an Elephant” (pp. xxi-xxii): “Here’s a troubling thought: There’s no wa

“Did Socrates Love Athens?”
on Dec 29, 2008 in Greece history Athens citizenship mythology place Sokrates I love that question - though I don’t have any good answer to it. I think that any simple answer is prevented by the following sets of (reported) facts: Sokrates fought with noted bravery at Amphipolis, Potideia, and as the Athenians were rout.

Cowhide Aesthetics
on Dec 28, 2008 in Musings history meaning baseball Durham aesthetics John Adams Baseball and North Carolina in the same sentence make me think of the Durham Bulls (not, to clear things up, Bull Durham, though I quite love Annie’s opening monologue). Which makes me think of tracking a handful of players who made it to the M.

Maybe We Were Smarter In Middle School Than I Usually Give Credit For
on Dec 26, 2008 in jlw religion “or are forbidden to sing or play songs that explicitly refer to Christ” And then Ivan Kenneally gives me an off-topic (or is it?) flashback: Eighth grade, I think, outside during gym class. OK, that’s what it was - we were

Whatever You Do, Just Avoid Bono’s Cover
on Dec 25, 2008 in music religion faith Hallelujah Leonard Cohen Via PhDiva, a headline I didn’t quite expect to see –  “Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ Is Surprise Christmas Hit.” (Though since this is in Britain, I’m reminded of Cohen’s quip that he had always a