George Rebane
‘War fades as story’ – now that we are making progress, the media’s interest have waned. But then, why advertize the other side’s successes? As a story it should/could have faded much earlier and saved both American and Iraqi lives. A broader look at this by the Miami Herald is provided here.
One Biotech Burger Please. Genetically modified foods are much in the news. How about genetically cloned as introduced in Popular Science -
If the biotech industry has its way, ordering a hamburger might soon sound something like this: “one charbroiled cloned-beef patty, with genetically modified cheese, lab-grown bacon and vitamin-C-fortified lettuce, on a protein-spiked bun.” The burger of the future is delicious, nutritious and contains more engineering than a stealth bomber.
Here’s the complete article to tell you more.
Some weeks ago Jo Ann and I came upon the recent HBO historical series ‘Rome’ on Netflix. What an awesome and entertaining production that literally pulls no punches on portraying life in ancient Roman during the half century before Christ. The series is extremely well written and cast. The production company constructed a large set of many acres depicting ancient Rome with all its mansions, collegiums, and slums. The story told is of the demise of the Roman Republic and the ascendancy of the autocratic (tyrannical?) caesars, beginning with the tragically short reign of Julius himself, and going through the tumultuous transition to the stability of Augustus which launched the four hundred year autocracy we all learned about in school. The cast of well known figures includes intimate looks at historical people such as Julius, Octavian (the young Augustus), Mark Antony, Cleopatra, Brutus, Cassius, Cicero, Cato, … and finely honed fictional characters that enable and glue together the historical panorama. The display of Roman values and daily life is nothing short of astounding – the slaves, nobles, freemen, daily grind, endless politics and plots, killing, sex, crime, religion – and is as accurately portrayed as the first person accounts that have come down to us. This series is not for the sensitive or the impressionable young. Full nudity, coitus, and gruesome death are displayed without fanfare in the natural (for those times) passage of events. But after you obtain the appropriate parental guidance to see it, I assure you that you will be not only educated but also regally entertained.
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