Phil Ochs was a singer/songwriter, and a leftist of the old sort. Later in his career, he was plagued by mental illness and had a tragic end. But what a beautiful and distinctive voice he had, instantly recognizable. Some of … Continue reading →
I grew up in an era in which we had to memorize scads of poetry, some of it of the patriotic verse variety. I’ve written about the experience here. An excerpt: I think it may be a lost pedagogical device, … Continue reading →
When I was a child of around ten, one semi-bored day I came across the light-verse poem “Evolution” in a book on a shelf in my house. Even at the age of ten it amused me and also moved me, … Continue reading →
This isn’t going to be the definitive post on guaranteed income programs. I’m hoping to write one at some point, but that point isn’t now. But this development is certainly of interest: Communities throughout the U.S. are experimenting with social … Continue reading →
Commenter “Mac” expresses what I’ve been feeling too: I have a sense that politically, culturally, socially, things are *not* going to be ok. Things are *not* going to work out. The America that we knew is not going to survive. … Continue reading →
Daniel Pipes gets to say “I told you so” to Rushdie. I wondered about the seeming lack of security around Rushdie that enabled his attacker to get so close to him. Scott Johnson has an interview with Daniel Pipes at … Continue reading →
In a post I wrote earlier today about Germany’s power problems, there was a link with a photo of a low-water Rhine and the caption: “A ferry cruises past the partially dried riverbed of the Rhine river in Bingen, Germany … Continue reading →
It was Lenin (or Stalin, or Marx) who supposedly said: “The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.” Whoever really said it, it’s one of those pithy witticisms that encapsulate some sort of truth, in … Continue reading →
Let’s take a break from all the heavy politics, and talk about music. Have you ever noticed that certain songs dealing with the very same themes are very different? Love of course is one of the main topics of songs … Continue reading →
Since the Uvalde shooting, I’ve been reading statement after statement, as though it’s a proven fact, that school shooters and other mass murdering shooters are usually fatherless, disproportionately so. The people saying this don’t usually feel they have to prove … Continue reading →
First they came for the statues. Now they’ve come for the sonnets: The University of Salford, a public university in Greater Manchester, England, removed sonnets and other “pre-established literary forms” from a creative writing course assessment, The Telegraph reported. …A … Continue reading →
…not with a bang but a whimper: The smaller number of marching units, the absence of the “Z” sloganeering, any air units, and the elite of the Russian Army all gave the parade a more subdued air. It was not … Continue reading →