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[voltaire1964]

Given the recent wave of destruction of monuments and historical symbols, it may be interesting to know or remember the American Civil War as seen through the eyes of Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederation. Considering how many divergent opinions exist on historical events and subjects, we may remember Leo Tolstoy's related pronouncement, "History would be an excellent thing if only it were true."

[voltaire1964]

[voltaire1964]

In Praise of Shamelessness So much has been said about the Venezuelan crisis that adding more would equate to gilding the lily or carrying coal to Newcastle.

[voltaire1964]

The Waves of Time

The Waves of Time

That all the world is a stage and all men and women merely players is a familiar and generally accepted proposition. But many, prompted by curiosity and helped by new information previously unknown or uneasily available, would like to know more about the play they are the unwitting players thereof.

Which transforms the frame of mind of the curious into that of a historian. In turn, this exposes…

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[voltaire1964]

Another View of the EU (European Union) The MacDonaldization of words forces many to lay that reason asleep which disturbs their gayety. Among recent new entries is ‘Brexit’, a word suitable to a speaking-club made of millions, where most half-hear what, if they heard the whole, they would but half-understand.

[voltaire1964]

The Cunning of Reason

The Cunning of Reason

Reading Hegel requires a reader in perfect health. The alternative is to attempt but a little at a time, which, after all, is the secret of all learning.

In the instance, Hegel says that history is but the realization of the idea of Reason – a proposition that, without further elucidation, may prompt many to wonder if Hegel said so while drunk. For a quick look at the ways of the world proves…

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[voltaire1964]

The Cardinal's Letter

The Cardinal’s Letter

Sooner or later it was inevitable that the capitulation of the Vatican to the demands of a decadent culture and of powerful enemies would awaken the trumpet of sedition inside the Catholic Church.

As readers may already know, Cardinal Viganò recently wrote an open letter to Pope Francis asking him to resign. I will attempt to show the link connecting that letter to the actual resignations of Pope…

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[voltaire1964]

Tales Told The Millennials Decades are acknowledged historical markers, signaling the birth of a new generation, and the transition between adjacent but different cultural times.

[voltaire1964]

Quo Vadis Vatican? The nature of the subject requires an introduction. A detective story does not require a murder, nor the events of a thriller need be fictional.

[voltaire1964]

From 1000 AD to WW3

From 1000 AD to WW3

If, according to Oscar Wilde, truth is a matter of style, even more so history is a matter of opinion. An obvious and unnecessary remark, were it not for the anger of some when they dissent with the thoughts of others. To them I would recommend, with all the earnestness at my disposal, the recollection of Mark Twain’s topic and soothing ruling that, “In all matters of opinion our adversaries are…

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[voltaire1964]

Prisoners of Words During his recent meeting with Putin in Helsinki, Trump, answering a question form a US journalist, said that there was no reason to suspect Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential elections.

[voltaire1964]

Red-Wine, Health-Care, Shakespeare & Capitalism Those who follow the reigning fashion, or from fashion borrow their taste, will have observed that, after a de-facto 20 years of relative unpopularity, red wine has undergone a commercial and cultural renaissance.

[voltaire1964]

Who are the people in the Quiz? Given that, for any current political or social event, there is a wealth of interpretations, from the simplest to the most elaborate, I will not add yet another comment.

[voltaire1964]

Meditations on Skripal

Parisians, and those who roam the streets of Paris to take upon themselves the Frenchness of things, will no doubt know or remember the elegant, historic and fashionable Place Vendome. There is a history in all men’s lives(1) and in what they built. In the instance, however, I only refer to the Duke of Vendome, (1654-1712), in whose honor the square is named. He was a Marshal of France and a…

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[voltaire1964]

Dostoyevsky and the Chosen People

Dostoyevsky and the Chosen People

Dostoyevsky is known as an eminent tower of world literature and an implacable depth-sounder of the remotest recesses of the human soul – an analytical mind, fascinated by the invisible chemistry of people’s consciousness and emotions. And if Pushkin can be called the Raphael of Russian literature, Dostoyevsky is undoubtedly its Michelangelo. Very, or at least relatively few, associate…

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[voltaire1964]

The Power of Aesthetics in Learning

The Power of Aesthetics in Learning

This article was written for the Rocketship Education Home School. John Locke, famous British empiricist, philosopher and father of Liberalism, asserted that, “The chief art of learning is to attempt but a little at a time.” The aphorism seems obvious. But we may or should remember that the excellence of aphorisms consists not so much in the expression of some complicated concept, as in the…

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[voltaire1964]

The Founding Fathers and Other Tales The skeptics among my twenty-five readers may suspect from the title, that I am jumping on the bandwagon of our discontent(1), to direct cheap shots at a stale target.