Monthly Archives: July 2023
Oppenheimer – Review
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th July 2023Christopher Nolan’s latest film centers on the man who directed the project that built that first nuclear weapon. J Robert Oppenheimer was picked by then Colonel Leslie Groves to lead the scientific laboratory that would build the bomb. The movie is a triumph of construction, pacing, suspense (even though the viewer knows the story and…
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Benjamin Franklin – Two Maxims
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th July 2023Benjamin Franklin’s accomplishments dwarf those of any American since the advent of recorded history. His accomplishments are so vast and varied that no other American comes close. He was interested in virtually everything and made more contributions to more fields than any of his countrymen before or since his time. He was a writer, scientist,…
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Low-Dose Aspirin and the Risk of Stroke
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 26th July 2023Low-Dose Aspirin and the Risk of Stroke and Intracerebral Bleeding in Healthy Older People – Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial is a study just published in the JAMA. It demonstrates another reason why low dose aspirin for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease is harmful rather than therapeutic. The study found a significant…
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Mothers in Opera
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 20th July 2023I have no explanation, but fathers figure in opera far more frequently than do mothers. Here are some excerpts or even the entire opera that have mothers in a prominent role. To be included in this group the child must be alive at some point in the opera. If he/she is dead before the action…
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The NAS Report on COVID-19
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 18th July 2023The National Association of Scholars has released a report Shifting Sands: The Confounded Errors of Public Health Policy Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the third report of a series which examines the interface of science and government. The realization that science, medicine, the government, and both the professional and lay media performed badly during the…
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The CDC, COVID, and Masks – Wither Science?
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 15th July 2023The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) is the agency’s primary vehicle for “scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations.” Despite it’s standing as a reliable guide to the science of the agency’s purview it is subject only to internal review. It was employed by the…
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Churchill: Walking with Destiny – Book Review
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th July 2023Author Andrew Roberts has the industry of a worker bee mixed with the allure of a rare butterfly. He turns out historical biographies like lava from an active volcano. His one volume biography of Churchill, a very big one volume comprising 1152 pages, was published in 2018 and is the definitive account of the great…
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Governance
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th July 2023People today seem utterly unsatisfied with the government under which they live. The more tolerant or representative a government is, the more vehement the expression of dissatisfaction. This obvious dissent from what the government proposes or allows among the democracies may merely reflect what people are permitted compared to governments that are more repressive. No…
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Rossini After Opera
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th July 2023Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) was only 37 years old after the premiere of William Tell in 1829. He was the leading operatic composer in the world. Yet for reason still unresolved, he never wrote another opera during the four decades of life which remained to him. He was not mute during this period away from the…
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Mercadante – Il Proscritto
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 1st July 2023Saverio Mercadante (1795-1870) wrote almost 60 operas in addition to being the Director of the Naples Conservatory. His opera Il Proscritto (The Proscribed) is set to a libretto by Salvatore Cammarano. It was premiered in Naples in 1842 and quickly disappeared. Conductor Carlo Rizzi discovered the score in the Naples Conservatory Archives and arranged a…
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