A past competition, now sadly in abeyance, used to involve arguing over who was the greatest Irish intellect. The English held a similar competition some years ago and, unsurprisingly, chose Churchill ahead of Shakespeare. God knows what would happen if we had a referendum or phone-in-vote to decide this in Ireland today. Who might figure … Read more
The life of any piece of music is unpredictable. From its birth, flowing from the mind and fingers of the composer, the new-born takes delicate steps across rudimentary harmonies, revealing fragments of thoughts and emotions as it goes on. Its heart takes shape first, and then the brain. This can be sufficient. Sometimes a piece … Read more
Yesterday, I met George. Several times before I’d seen him working on my corner, where Pontchartrain Boulevard crosses Veterans Boulevard. For our part of New Orleans, he was unique. George was black, very black, and very strong. Very strong and yet very confined to a wheelchair. From a hundred feet down the street, I’ll tell … Read more
In 1967, the fidgets struck again. That was the year my mother died, rapidly following my father. I confess now that I was not obviously upset by the deaths of my parents. In the culture of my generation and class, love, certainly any public expression of it, was an embarrassment. Such namby-pamby language was confined … Read more
Institutes such as the Amazon Man and Environment (IMAZON) and the National Space Research (INPE) have pointed to increased deforestation throughout the Amazon region. Although the data preliminary, the increase in the range of felling and burning is very significant, raising major concerns over the safety of indigenous peoples. Francisco Piyãko, leader of the Ashaninka … Read more
To My Fellow-Citizens in the Supreme Court, I write this letter because I think your decision in the Angela Kerins case creates a crisis in the government of this country. It will be critical of that decision and of some decisions of your predecessors, but please do not react to it defensively, or reject it … Read more
The Corbyn phenomenon – and the utter media-class meltdown over it – is weirdly but obviously reminiscent to anyone who witnessed the rise of Bernie Sanders here in the United States. In both cases, the harbingers were clear, both in terms of responding to grim economic data for an indebted younger generation, and arriving in … Read more
Even the color of my skin belies who I really am. Always on the outside looking in . . . even with my own kin. Blonde and blue-eyed born into a brown world, I came to see myself through their eyes, their skin, their pain. White woman brown heart, I am. I didn’t understand … Read more
Anyone unfamiliar with Joe Rogan would do well to watch his stand-up shows on Netflix, or read a recent piece entitled ‘Why is Joe Rogan so Popular?’ from The Atlantic. Perhaps you already know him from a notorious interview with Elon Musk, where the latter liberally drinks whiskey and smokes weed, much to Wall Street’s … Read more
As the United Kingdom inches perilously closer to a ‘no deal’ Brexit, Frank Armstrong recalls the European Union’s origins as an antidote to destructive and ill-conceived nationalism, which tore the continent apart for thirty years between 1914 and 1945. He argues that explanations for British exceptionalism should not be reduced to post-imperialist delusions, instead highlighting … Read more