inkbluesky

donna derrico’s sun tattoo

I’ll take mythology for $200; What is yes and maybe to two big questions when we study ancient Homeric writing, Was Troy real—and was the author of The Iliad a woman?

The book’s most headline-grabbing claim is about authorship. Dalby argues that the composer of The Iliad and The Odyssey was a woman. Initially, this idea seems pretty silly, and not even original. Samuel Butler (author of Erewhon) argued in the 19th century that The Odyssey is by a woman, on the grounds that the poem is set in a nonmilitary world, and shows deep sympathy with female characters. The argument is a weak one: The whole point of imaginative literature, some would say, is that it allows poets, writers, and audience to participate in alien forms of experience.

I’ll give away one spoiler then you’ll have to click over to read the rest. Yes there was a city named Troy in what is now modern day Turkey.

Holiday Gifts For Polluters 

 Lead lunacy: In a shocking statement, the Bush EPA said it is considering eliminating national clean air standards for lead, a highly toxic pollutant that can damage the brains of children.

The Bush team claims that we’ve done so well with lead that perhaps we can declare victory and stop. (Now if they used that logic with Iraq…). Who got this gift? The lead smelting and battery industry, which is lobbying to prevent further cleanup.

Censoring science: The Bush EPA said it is “streamlining” the way it sets clean air standards. What’s really going on is that EPA is planning to censor its pesky career scientists and downgrade its independent science advisers, while letting political hacks make bad decisions with less public scrutiny. Who got this gift? The oil and electric power industries, which lobbied for the new EPA policy.

Cement shoes: EPA put out new “toxic” pollution standards for cement factories, but decided that existing factories didn’t have to reduce toxic mercury at all. Who got this gift? The cement industry, which lobbied the White House to avoid mercury controls.

And there are other possible gifts still being wrapped.

If this doesn’t piss you off enough there is more at the link. This administration looks bad even compared to the Grinch. The Grinch just stole presents, if you get even a small amount of mercury in your system you’ll never see another holiday.