I understand the appeal of hats and am puzzled by the appeal of popes. The pope has distinctive headgear for which he is known. So I sometimes wonder if I can use what I know about hat-fancying to gain some insight into the minds of pope-fanciers. I haven’t had any success with this effort so [...]
All posts by acilius
The Pope’s Hat in Two Recent Web Comics
Posted by acilius on April 13, 2012
http://losthunderlads.com/2012/04/13/the-popes-hat-in-two-recent-web-comics/
A long comment at 3QuarksDaily
A moment ago, I posted a very long comment in response to a post by Quinn O’Neill at 3QuarksDaily. Ms O’Neill’s post was a response to criticism that she had received after saying, in an earlier piece on the same site, that the most effective strategy for increasing the likelihood that schools will teach a [...]
Posted by acilius on April 11, 2012
http://losthunderlads.com/2012/04/11/a-long-comment-at-3quarksdaily/
Counterpunch, 1-15 March 2012
In the latest issue of Counterpunch, JoAnn Wypijewski tells the story of Keith Jennings, a resident of Stony Ridge, Ohio. Mr Jennings couldn’t keep up with his house payments, so the bank owns it now. He has responded to this by enlisting a group of local youths to seal the house off, covering it in [...]
Posted by acilius on March 22, 2012
http://losthunderlads.com/2012/03/22/counterpunch-1-15-march-2012/
May the Great Bird of the Galaxy Bless Your Planet
From the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, I watched Star Trek about 4 times a week. I’ve had occasion to watch it since, and it holds up. It’s a good show, and an interesting specimen of 1960s liberalism. Of course, when I see it now I also feel strong nostalgia for that period 30 years [...]
Posted by acilius on March 5, 2012
http://losthunderlads.com/2012/03/05/may-the-great-bird-of-the-galaxy-bless-your-planet/
Deep in the brain
An article about brain parasites that breed in cats and spread to creatures, possibly including humans, that then become unreasonably attracted to cats appeared in the March 2012 issue of The Atlantic. The article triggered vast amounts of comment around the web; I’ll just mention that it appeared at about the same time Gregory Cochran [...]
Posted by acilius on March 3, 2012
http://losthunderlads.com/2012/03/03/deep-in-the-brain/
Star Pilot #7
I’m glad to say that I’ve received an advance copy of Star Pilot #7, the latest installment of our favorite photocopied comic book. In this one, Jules Jupiter, super-intelligent simian who sometimes flies among the stars and sometimes acts as a roving sleuth here on earth, travels to a fictional country where a dictator has [...]
Posted by acilius on March 2, 2012
http://losthunderlads.com/2012/03/02/star-pilot-7/
Car Insurance vs Health Insurance
Earlier this evening, I posted a long comment on a post at Secular Right. In the post, blogger Heather MacDonald said that she was, in principle, a supporter of the idea that the law should require people to buy health insurance. In support of this view, she pointed out that motorists are required to buy [...]
Posted by acilius on March 1, 2012
http://losthunderlads.com/2012/03/01/car-insurance-vs-health-insurance/
Walking in Roman Culture
For years I’ve had it in the back of my mind to prepare a study called Posture and Gait in Classical Antiquity. We have a variety of sources that could help us reach conclusions about how various types of people tended to stand and move in ancient times. There are literary descriptions of posture and [...]
Posted by acilius on February 29, 2012
http://losthunderlads.com/2012/02/29/walking-in-roman-culture/
Unkept Republics
I named my online persona after Gaius Acilius, a man who lived in 155 BC, in part because the history Acilius wrote of Rome seems to have reflected some of the concerns that would define what scholars like Quentin Skinner call the “Republican Tradition” in political thought. Professor Skinner has labeled such thinkers as Hobbes, [...]
Posted by acilius on February 27, 2012
http://losthunderlads.com/2012/02/27/unkept-republics/
John S Wilkins’ “Evolving Thoughts”
A year and a half ago, in September 2010, blogger John S. Wilkins posted something I meant to remark on here. A response to the public discussion going on at the time about Stephen Hawking’s book The Grand Design, it was titled “Stephen Hawking and the Creation of the Universe.” Mr Wilkins’ point was that, [...]
Posted by acilius on February 25, 2012
http://losthunderlads.com/2012/02/25/john-s-wilkins-evolving-thoughts/
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