… postmodernized.

UD will always admire the monologue he gave Fulvia Morgana, the way-rich, sybaritic Italian Marxist in Small World:

Of course I recognize the contradictions in our way of life, but those are the very contradictions characteristic of the last phase of bourgeois capitalism, which will eventually cause it to collapse. By renouncing our own little bit of privilege we should not accelerate by one minute the consummation of that process, which has its own inexorable rhythm and momentum, and is determined by the pressure of mass movements, not the puny actions of individuals. Since in terms of dialectical materialism it makes no difference to the ‘istorical process whether Ernesto and I, as individuals, are rich or poor, we might as well be rich, because it is a role which we know ‘ow to perform with a certain dignity.

In 2022, the church began to require that clergy vouch for new [Brigham Young University] hires’ agreement with [church] leaders [on all faith matters] and affirm the candidate hasn’t used pornography recently.

What’s the procedure for proving to a clergyman you haven’t used porn recently?

His declaration that the Nazi gas chambers were “merely a detail” of World War Two history and that the Nazi occupation of France was “not especially inhumane” were for many people repulsive.

From our hotel room balcony.

Trip today to Pompeii.

… study the Grecian urns in the Naples archeological museum. With Keats’s lines echoing in her head, brilliant mosaics underfoot, sunlight through veiled windows, and the urns themselves – objects UD considers among the most beautiful things in the world – your blogueuse found herself in tears.

UD thanks Frances for the link.

Sunrise.

But he’s not all about restaurants in Venice.

The New York Police Department reassured the public that it was “not a terrorist attack.”

… we’ll know soon enough.

***************

Probably terrorist. Definitely dead.

***************

‘An ISIS flag was attached to the pickup rear hitch.’

“Even after losing his own fingers as a result of his homemade explosive materials, [Brad Spafford] made the apparent remarkable decision to keep an extraordinarily dangerous explosive material in the home’s freezer next to food items that could be accessed by the entire family,” prosecutors said… [Spafford] acknowledged keeping a jar in his freezer of HMTD, an explosive material that is so unstable it can be exploded merely as a result of friction or temperature changes.” Investigators found the jar stored next to food items and labeled “dangerous” and “do not touch.”

Shot secretly in Iran, ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ has received international acclaim. It has won awards at Cannes and other major film festivals…

Here’s part of what you can’t see in India.

I'm doing what I did last year:

Standing on a cold Venetian balcony, listening.
The others have gone off to the canal
To see the fireworks.  For me, enough to hear
The crack and blast of the show from a distance.

Under the stars, the sky flashes pink and green
With each explosion.  The balcony rattles a bit
And, from dark corners of the city, unseen
Voices shout that a new year begins.

Strange to be here again for this strange
Light show, a sort of conceptual art,
Postmodern version of pitched battle,
Gunfight, terror, striking the heart

But sparing the body.  Some of it
Sounds like gunshots, and then my frame,
Like the balcony, rattles a bit.
Absurd.  But who can blame

Me for going there?  The only bombing campaign
I'll ever know simply smokes up the air
And leaves me standing there
Wondering about skirmish scrimmage and war.