Spring: moving right along
What a difference a week makes.
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The Rahman case and the Inquisition
Now that the case against Abdul Rahman has been dropped, Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi has offered him sanctuary: “I say that we are very glad to be able to welcome someone who has been so courageous,” Premier Silvio Berlusconi said. Berlusconi … Continue reading →
I guess I need to be careful about that apple logo
I better not start using this site to sell any music, or the Beatles will be breathing down my neck (of course, at an earlier time in my life, that would have been the fulfillment of a dream): Two legendary … Continue reading →
The cavalry never came: Moussaoui’s confession
The ongoing carnival of the Moussaoui trial has introduced still another act: the main character turning the tables on his defense team (and himself) by a spectacular in-court confession during the sentencing stage of his trial. This gesture of Moussaoui’s … Continue reading →
Richard Landes reports from France, the paralyzed ostrich
Richard Landes, of the blog Augean Stables and the website Second Draft, has recently returned from a trip to France and filed this eminently readable report on which way the wind is blowing in France today (and you don’t need … Continue reading →
Magritte would not be pleased, and neither is neo-neocon: the apple transformed
The apple–and most particularly that tart green variety known as the Granny Smith (and there really was a Granny Smith, by the way)–is an especially beautiful fruit. With color, shape, healthfulness, and taste, the apple has it all. Just ask … Continue reading →
Conflict of laws: the Abdul Rahman case
[NOTE: I wrote the bulk of this post late last night, and am now happy to report that the charges against Rahman have been dropped. I’ve added to the post to reflect that updated information, but the issues involved are … Continue reading →
Miscellaneous Saturday thoughts
Very light blogging today. I’m busy having fun–a novel idea, I know! So, see you tomorrow. But I just wanted to mention a couple of things, and I’ll be uncharacteristically brief. The first is that after yesterday’s discussion of kitcsh, … Continue reading →
Pictorial propaganda: Part III–Kitsch and politics
The last post of mine (number two in this series) generated so many exceptional comments that I was thinking of just reproducing a few of them and calling it a day. Here‘s one by grackle: One problem with Rockwell for … Continue reading →
Pictorial propaganda: Part II–Norman Rockwell and Soviet art
[Part I here.] Now, who doesn’t like Norman Rockwell? Yeah, he’s corny as all get out. But breathes there the man (or woman) with soul so dead who wouldn’t be touched by this picture, and a host of others by … Continue reading →
Word verification for comments temporarily turned off
I’ve temprorarily turned off the word verification feature for the comments because it’s malfunctioning. It’s not allowing a number of people to post a comment, including myself! The whole word verification thing was only enabled in the first place to … Continue reading →
Pictorial propaganda (Part I–Norman Rockwell and the Four Freedoms)
Those of you who read here regularly have probably noticed I’ve been mulling over the uses of propaganda lately, especially here, and again (at least to a certain degree) here . At some point it occurred to me that nearly … Continue reading →