Tag Archives: politics

Poetry and Protest in Iran

[image courtesy of .faramarz] From Harriet: Poetry still plays an integral part in Iranian life, even in the midst of the protests and chaos.  In a widely circulated blog post out of Tehran, a protester notes: “Placards that people carried … Continue reading

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Jill Greenberg’s John McCain Photos

I was wondering why my more-than-two-year-old post on Jill Greenberg’s children and monkey photos was suddenly getting comments again and then I heard about the controversy surrounding her photos of John McCain, one of which was featured on the cover … Continue reading

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Sarah Palin’s Banned Book List

I’m no fan of Sarah Palin, but I’ve received numerous messages this morning purporting to contain a list of books Palin attempted to have banned from the Wasilla city library when she was elected mayor. This is clearly a myth. … Continue reading

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David Foster Wallace on John McCain

[photo by Steve Rhodes] David Foster Wallace’s essay on John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign is being re-issued as a book called McCain’s Promise. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, DFW responded to the question of whether he had … Continue reading

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Another Forgotten Strip

Another comic I forget because I can’t subscribe to it (though that is supposedly going to change real soon) is the almost always amusing– and often scary– Get Your War On. A pair from late last month:

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From Russia with Hate

This brief documentary on the rise of Neo-Nazis and other hate groups in Russia is powerful and disturbing… and perfect for the web where it isn’t censored as it would undoubtedly be on television.

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Politics and Poetry

A snippet from a newspaper article on Lawrence Ferlinghetti: “Poetry can save the world by transforming consciousness,” he argues in “Poetry as Insurgent Art,” a slim hardback pocketbook manifesto of prose epigrams, seemingly addressed to poets and those who might … Continue reading

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On Patriotism

Patriotism. It’s become a distasteful, even shameful, word to me. I don’t know when it changed, at what point in the evolution of my thinking the mere invocation of the word started to make me shiver. I love this country, … Continue reading

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Bong Hits 4 Jesus

I’m thoroughly disgusted by the party line Supreme Court decision in the Morse v. Frederick (aka Bong Hits 4 Jesus) case. I’m too angry and frustrated to write a dispassionate, analytical post. But I would like to make a few … Continue reading

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Painting the Disappeared

There are some powerful images in this Slate exhibit about how to approach the disappeared artistically, but none more so than this video of an artist painting– with water on stone– the likenesses of disappeared individuals, a race against time … Continue reading

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Meta-Free-Phor-All

Robert Pinsky moderates a linguistic duel, the Meta-Free-Phor-All between Stephen Colbert and Sean Penn.

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The Future?

Via Victoria:

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Freedom Through Tyranny

via Link comes this juicy bit by Chief Justice Warren: Unfortunately, there are some who think that the way to save freedom in this country is to adopt the techniques of tyranny.

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Pessimism vs. Existentialism

As Sartre constantly reminds us, we are what we do. In short, existentialism is not a philosophy that allows us to feel sorry for ourselves in the midst of our malaise. It is a philosophy with which we can come … Continue reading

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Christianity v Islam

From the article “A Deadly Certitude”: Dawkins treats Islam as just another deplorable religion, but there is a difference. The difference lies in the extent to which religious certitude lingers in the Islamic world, and in the harm it does. … Continue reading

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Tolerance

It sounds better to title this post positively than to say what it’s really about: my intolerance. The common adage is that as one grows older one grows more intolerant. But when I was younger I was already extremely intolerant. … Continue reading

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A Thought on 9/11

Thomas Merton: Hence it becomes more and more difficult to estimate the morality of an act leading to war because it is more and more difficult to know precisely what is going on. Not only is war increasingly a matter … Continue reading

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