Our condolences go also to their respective families, who in recent weeks suffered those tragic losses.

He gave astounding orders to soldiers departing to suppress the Boxer Rebellion in China they should awaken fear as had the Huns of yore.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, as one of his first initiatives, proposed a ban on golden parachutes for departing managers of firms traded on the stock exchange, in order to halt the practice of taking huge severance payments without the consent of shareholders.

Pakistan was hacked off the stooped shoulders of India by the departing British in 1947 as a homeland for India s Muslims but, until recently (as Pakistan s population continues to grow at a higher rate than India s), more Muslims remained in India than lived in Pakistan.

Nevertheless, to paraphrase Keynes, every time we turn on the radio or television, read a newspaper, pick up a novel, or watch a movie, we are in the thrall of one or more dead humanists who set the terms of reference through which we see the world.