The Fresh Face of the Fascists

Funny how many people refuse to see the exact parallels between fascism and the 21st century GOP.

Don't Mean What You Say? Use Antilanguage

Anti-language

noun ˈan-ˌtī,\ˈlaŋ-gwij, -wij\

The ruling-class and corporate PR propaganda ploy of using terms that convey the precise opposite of their actual intention.

For example, when Republicans speak of “shared sacrifice,” they mean sacrifice unshared by them or the billionaires before whom they grovel.

A Chair That's Not a Chair, Even When There's No One Sitting There

A theist is like the owner of an empty apartment who insists that, on the contrary, his home is furnished with an invisible, intangible throne more magnificent than any mere physical chair on Earth. He claims to sit comfortably in that chair by the spiritual fire, with his dogma curled up cozily at his feet.

But an assertion is not a chair. A metaphor is not a chair. A belief is not a chair. Freethinkers are merely those people who observe that there is nowhere they can sit.

The Dog of Tomorrow

Here's an Alex Ross painting I absolutely love. For the uninitiated, I'll say that this is Krypto, Superman's dog (don't ask, just go with it). He's been around, on and off, for more than a half-century now. For the record, a dog is one of the few beings I would actually trust with super powers.

The Great Poet’s Work

Painting by Joni Di Pirro

By Lisa Lipham Lemza

So I bought the Great Poet’s Work

Some years ago.

Dutifully read it,

And was, shall we say,

Underwhelmed.

I picked up that book last week—

Elegant and slim—

And found each line shot with electric wonder,

Mind falling off the cliffs of words:

Spinning, ecstatic, stomach dropping.

It’s not the book that’s changed.

Caviar as Brain Food

In 1902, Albert Einstein and a couple of young intellectual friends dubbed themselves the “Olympia Academy,” lampooning the stuffiness of academia.

They named Einstein the president, and created a certificate for him that included his bust in profile beneath an impressive string of sausages.

After all, the nature of the universe was important, but so were sausages.

“Generally their dinners were frugal repasts of sausage, Gruyère cheese, fruit and tea. But for Einstein’s birthday, (Maurice) Solovine and (Conrad) Habicht decided to surprise him by putting three plates of caviar on the table.

“Einstein was engrossed in analyzing Galileo’s principle of inertia, and as he talked he took mouthful after mouthful of his caviar without seeming to notice. Habicht and Solovine exchanged furtive glances.

“’Do you realize what you’ve been eating?’ Solovine finally asked.

“’For goodness’ sake,’ Einstein exclaimed. ‘So that was the famous caviar!’ He paused for a moment, then added, ‘Well, if you offer gourmet food to peasants like me, you know they won’t appreciate it.’”

Source: “Einstein: His Life and Universe” by Walter Isaacson

Sleeping Dogs Lie

By Lisa Lipham Lemza

Their bodies soft,

Improbably compressed,

Curling into commas,

Apostrophes of beguiling rest—

Paws crossed,

Noses tipped with tail,

Snouts tucked,

A contraction of dog.

It all belies

The obdurate muscle coiled beneath,

Which can spring

In a scalding moment,

In a shock of surging power,

Into an elemental something

A burglar would not wish to meet.