fiddling with the sidebar ... 000

::Saturday, January 03, 2004 11:34:22 AM::
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NUNTII: Acropolis Museum Update

This just in ... a brief item from Kathimerini:

The Council of State yesterday suspended for six days its ruling on an appeal for a halt to the construction of the new Acropolis Museum, to give the Culture Ministry time to provide documents clarifying the risk to nearby antiquities. The court wants to know if a construction permit has been issued, if a contractor has been appointed and when works are due to begin in the part of the plot where antiquities have been found. The appeal has been lodged by the Greek branch of the International Council on Monuments and Sites and by residents of Makriyianni.

::Saturday, January 03, 2004 10:47:49 AM::
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THIS DAY IN ANCIENT HISTORY

ante diem iii nonas januarias

• ludi compitales (day 1) -- really a moveable festival which might
  occur anytime between Saturnalia and January 5. It was largely
  a rural occasion involving woollen dolls being made to represent
  each free member of the household (simple woollen balls would be
  used to represent slaves) being hung up on the eve of the
  festival, presumably as offerings to the Lares. There would also
  follow more formal sacrifices at the compita (places where two
  farm paths crossed).
• 106 B.C. -- birth of Marcus Tullius Cicero at Arpinum
• 1943 -- death of F.M. Cornford (translator and commentator of Plato, among other things ... quote: "Every action which is not customary either is wrong, or if it is right, is a dangerous precedent. It follows that nothing should ever be done for the first time.")

::Saturday, January 03, 2004 7:46:39 AM::
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CHATTER: Hmmmmm

The incipit of a letter to the editor in the Charleston Gazette has my precaffeinated brain in  a knot:

West Virginia Republican Senate Minority Leader Vic Sprouse and Hugh Comstock objected to your editorial comment that educated people vote Democratic.

Sprouse, Comstock and the editorialist are wrong.

Nowadays, “educated” means someone possessing a certificate saying they showed up somewhere and passed some classes.

“Learned” would have been the better word choice. It indicates someone who has acquired wisdom and awareness, usually through reflection upon a classical studies program, plus current events. The “learned” know the seven great virtues are patience, perseverance, tolerance, frugality, benevolence, honesty and compassion.

Now let's see ... apparently I qualify to be learned, but if I were in the U.S. I doubt I'd be classified as a Democrat. So maybe I'm only educated? But if I were to vote Democratic, I'd suddenly become learned as opposed to educated? But then I'd be suppressing the virtue of honesty ... my head hurts. Where's my coffee?

::Saturday, January 03, 2004 6:59:59 AM::
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AWOTV: On TV Today

4.00 p.m. |DTC| Secrets of the Colosseum
"Visit the ruins of this massive triumph of Roman building and
engineering for clues to its ingenious design. Built in a
remarkably short span of 10 years, the structure combined
travertine stone, iron, concrete, brick and lava rocks from
nearby Vesuvius."

5.00 p.m. |DTC| Vesuvius: Deadly Fury
"In 79 AD, eruptions from Mount Vesuvius buried the city of
Pompeii. A burning wave of gas shot out from the side of
Vesuvius killing the inhabitants of neighboring Herculaneum in
just four minutes. Archaeologists look to these bodies for
historical clues."

DTC = Discovery Times Channel (US)

::Saturday, January 03, 2004 6:39:41 AM::
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