On the Naming of Cats

It seems to me that Sulla (short for Lucius Cornelius Sulla) is a fine name for a cat. From what we know of the man, he was lucky (thus "Felix"), ruthless but kind and loving to friends, playful, utterly self-centered, convinced of the rightness of himself and his goals, sensual, cruel, clever and fascinating. That sounds very much like a cat, to me.

Speculations on Zugzwang

Zugzwang is a concept in chess. Essentially, it describes a position where any move taken has adverse consequences. One must move, but one doesn't want to move. The concept also has applications in other areas, such as game theory, I believe.

The concept may have application in life, as well. Consider the political status quo in this remarkable country (the USA). How is it possible for a mere citizen to analyze, let alone make reasonable judgments, concerning the issues of the day? Most are too busy with other things to give such issues any thought. So, we tend to react to them without much thought; frankly, this may be the only way we can address them, all things being equal. Consequently, the decisions we make are likely to be ill-informed, and adverse, to us and others. Nonetheless, decisions must be made. The reasonable course would seem to be to make decisions which will probably result in the least harm, to us and others.

The stoics teach us there are things within our control, and things outside of our control. The more we concern ourselves with things outside our control, the less happy, and tranquil, we shall be.

Perhaps the best we can do is strive to make reasonable decisions regarding matters within our control. For good or ill, such matters are limited. Perhaps we shouldn't try to make decisions regarding what others should or should not do. A selfish point of view, one might say. But if each tried to act reasonably in their personal lives, perhaps reasonableness would prevail in society as well.

Some hurried thoughts on how to live, and cope, in a world where so many seek to make others think, and act, as they think is best.

Polanski

One has to wonder, regarding this arrest, whether law enforcement agents in the U.S. actually believe they have nothing better to do. Assuming the propriety of the charges, and that a crime was committed 32 years ago, is it worth the costs involved in prosecuting at this late date, not to mention the discord that is likely to result to the life of the girl, now woman, involved (one hopes she was consulted, and will cooperate, as would seem necessary to any successful prosecution; but who knows?), the media distraction, etc.? I would think this money and energy be would be better spent on other things.

The only Polanski film I know anything about is Chinatown, and it's one of my favorites. But I have no special regard for this now rather elderly man, and don't believe the crime involved is insignificant. Ultimately, though, in this and in everything it's important to establish priorities and intelligently allocate resources.

Salve

This is in the nature of an experiment. There is a certain narcissim involved in this, I suppose. It's a kind of display of self-regard. Or, perhaps, a kind of public diary, assuming one wants to be personal. I'm not certain I do. But, there is an attraction in doing something like this; one gains a kind of immortality in cyberspace, and that may be the only immortality attainable to us.

As the name suggests, I'm a ciceronian of sorts, in a way a follower of Cicero. I can't pretend to emulate his style, as I think Erasmus did. But, for all his faults, vanity being predominate, I admire what he managed to achieve, in writing, in law, in politics and philosophy. He managed to rise to the top of the Roman world without slaughtering tens of thousands if not more, no mean feat.

Philosophy, fencing, chess, books, society, politics are my interests and I'll address them here, if only for my own amusement. But, perhaps there'll be something more than that. We shall see, or at least I will.

For the time being, vale.