Monthly Archives: September 2017

A Ninth Century Prayer for Yom Kippur

A 9th century poem honoring Yom Kippur.

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Update on My Heart Condition

I now have a possible explanation for last week’s heart episode. Henry Fielding’s “Tom Jones” helped lead me to it.

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Facebook Escapes Its Creator

After refusing to acknowledged it was used by the Russians, Facebook is admitting that operatives did in fact buy ads that influenced the election. The Frankenstein story comes to mind.

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Free Speech on College Campuses

Pew says that millennials are more in favor of policing offensive speech than other groups, which helps explain some of the commotion on college campuses. I seek to understand why and how to use literature to address it.

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Will Ships Be Sent to Puerto Rico?

We need to send ships to Puerto Rico as we did to Haiti following the earthquake. I imagine them showing up as the unexpected ships in the “Lord of the Rings” siege of Gondor.

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Trump in Chaucer, Shakespeare & Conrad

When compared to people called “dotard” in Chaucer and Shakespeare, Trump fits the insult hurled at him by Kim Jong-un. His statement to African leaders, meanwhile, makes him sound like a “Heart of Darkness” ivory trader.

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Dissolving into the Glories of the Sun

Andrew Marvell’s “On a Drop of Dew” compares the soul’s visit to the earth realm to a dew drop. In the process, he references the manna in the wilderness, today’s Old Testament reading.

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How Tolstoy Would Judge Jeff Sessions

Leo Tolstoy, who calls out public officials who abuse the public trust, would have choice words for the American attorney general.

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Famous Physicians to the Rescue

Thursday I’m back home after a scare. As I reported yesterday, I was flown to the MedStar Washington Hospital Tuesday afternoon because the doctors feared I was having a heart attack. Once there, however, I learned that I had pericarditis, which they treated and then sent me home 24 hours later. I am tired but […]

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