protectivearts

FRED LUCAS and THE CIVIL WAR

When I first arrived in Oregon I remember being puzzled by the conspicuous lack of graveyards. In Connecticut they are omnipresent. The dead outnumber the living. The weight of the past is heavier and it seems like every memorial is a tribute to the sacrifices made during either the Revolutionary or the Civil War. SchoolContinue reading “FRED LUCAS and THE CIVIL WAR”

Facial Recognition

In Privacy, I highlighted the problem of the surveillance state. The public forum now debates how far that power should reach; whether police, corporations, or federal agencies should control it. The question is framed as one of fairness or accountability. It should be one of existence. The simplest way to see the danger is throughContinue reading “Facial Recognition”

HOPLITES and PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS

I have just finished Victor Hanson’s The Western Way of War (1989). It provides a visceral depiction of what it was like to be a hoplite. It is a very unromantic portrayal that emphasizes the communal aspects of ancient warfare; the necessity of group action where doing your role in the phalanx was far moreContinue reading “HOPLITES and PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS”