h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Oh, yes. Many disturbing, and sometimes downright horrible things are happening around the world this weekend:
- The catastrophe in London appears to have been at least partly caused by shoddy contracting.

- The crisis in Qatar continues.

- A young woman in the US has been convicted of manslaughter for relentlessly texting her bf until he committed suicide.

- The Bill Cosby trial resulted in a hung jury. Prosecutors pledge retrial.

These, and many more significant things are happening right now. But I wish to draw your attention to one thing that is different about this weekend from all the other weekends this year since 20 January:

The US president has gone off the grid. Well, sort of. You can still find his location on Google Maps.

Mr Trump is spending the weekend at the presidential retreat, Camp David, in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland. He has no appointments scheduled for 60 hours.

People are kind of surprised that he's going there. After all, he usually spends the weekend at a property he owns personally. And Camp David is aptly described as 'rustic'. I mean, this New Yorker runs a serious risk of coming into contact with *Nature* out there!

Okay, it's probably too much to hope that a bear will invade his kitchen. But one can dream...maybe a ground hog or (dare we say it?) a skunk on his patio?

Mean tweets:

Rogue Melania tweeted: 'I like Camp David. It remind me little of childhood in Slovenia, except it have lights and air condition.'

StillLes4Hill wrote: 'So Trump goes to defile Camp David like the WH. My 6x-G-grandfather Arnold Livers owned the land below CampD in 1700s. Hope he haunts him.'

West Wing Reports offers [unredacted]: 'President, not the outdoorsy-type, has previously belittled Camp David, telling an Euro journalist he'd enjoy it "for about 30 minutes"'

Now, we can't say why the president has gone into seclusion. Is it to brainstorm his next political moves? Does he just want to have a quiet family Father's Day weekend? Is it all down to the fact that it's raining in New Jersey and he can't play golf there? Is the whole trip a publicity idea, or a devious plot by the president's staff to have some time off? Who can tell?

Gheorgheni News: You know that little grey and white kitty on this week's Post cover? Guess where she lives now? Molly is the new Editorial Assistant Kitty. She 'helps' me with typing. Yesterday, she tried to send a tweet, but it was more than 140 characters, because she can't count yet. When she tried to block an innocent stranger, she was reprimanded and removed from the desk. Molly took it all in stride, toddling off to steal some of the dog's food. She's about 8 weeks old, and still growing.

http://abc7ny.com/news/play-sponsors-pulling-out-after-president-trump-look-alike-killing-scene/2085865/

I'm not sure if you've covered this in your past journals, Dmitri, but this morning I came across this fascinating Washington Post article from last year, which likens Donald Trump's speechwriting and tweeting style to the Roman orator Cicero:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/book-party/wp/2016/11/03/donald-trump-the-cicero-of-2016/?utm_term=.2680c8131023


And so what became of Trump’s mentor? Cicero eventually fell foul of the establishment and was caught and killed in 45 BC. According to Wikipedia:

‘Cicero's last words were said to have been, "There is nothing proper about what you are doing, soldier, but do try to kill me properly." He was decapitated by his pursuers. Once discovered, he bowed to his captors, leaning his head out of the litter in a gladiatorial gesture to ease the task. By baring his neck and throat to the soldiers, he was indicating that he wouldn't resist. His hands were cut off as well and nailed and displayed along with the head on the Rostra in the Forum Romanum according to the tradition of Marius and Sulla, both of whom had displayed the heads of their enemies in the Forum. He was the only victim of the Triumvirate's proscriptions to be displayed in that manner. According to Cassius Dio (in a story often mistakenly attributed to Plutarch), Antony's wife Fulvia took Cicero's head, pulled out his tongue, and jabbed it repeatedly with her hairpin in final revenge against Cicero's power of speech.’

I hadn't seen that article, Icy. Thanks! I never thought about it, but they've got a point.

And how Cicero would have hated that point, the old show-off. I used to tell my Latin students the rostra story as a warning about the dangers of being a wiseacre.