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- Review: Die My Love (2025)
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- “A mind which really lays hold of a subject is not easily detached from it.” — journalist Ida Tarbell
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Tag Archives: politics
“A mind which really lays hold of a subject is not easily detached from it.” — journalist Ida Tarbell
It’s a good day to think about unchecked power. Power needs people out there to check it. It’s a good day to acknowledge that the world – its money and resources – is dominated by a multi-national cadre of fat … Continue reading
Today, the Sheila Variations turns 23.
I don’t even know what to say. And now I will proceed to say some shit. The above pic of me – taken by Michael – graced the top of my original blog, when I set it up 23 years … Continue reading
Posted in On This Day, Personal
Tagged Block Island, Cary Grant, Croatia, Dean Stockwell, Elvis Presley, family, friends, Hope, Humphrey Bogart, Iran, Ireland, Jafar Panahi, Joanna Hogg, July and Half of August, Martin Scorsese, Memphis, politics, Raging Bull, September 11, Supernatural, Tilda Swinton, war
127 Comments
“Free Enterprise. The American Dream. Horatio Alger gone mad on drugs in Las Vegas. Do it now. Pure Gonzo journalism.” — Hunter S. Thompson
One of my favorite writers of all time. It’s his birthday today. Here he is on his favorite meal of the day: “I like to eat breakfast alone, and almost never before noon; anybody with a terminally jangled lifestyle needs … Continue reading
“The behavior of any bureaucratic organization can best be understood by assuming that it is controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies.” –Robert Conquest
“I think once you accept that you have the answer to everything, you can do anything to bring it about because your enemies are trying to stop you, are enemies of reason, of truth of everything – enemies of the … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged England, nonfiction, politics, Robert Conquest, Russia, Sergei Kirov, Stalin, The Great Terror, war
3 Comments
“When liberty is taken away by force it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily by default it can never be recovered.” — Dorothy Thompson
Dorothy Thompson, 1939: testifying in Congress to repeal the Neutrality Act. “They are holding every Jew in Germany as a hostage. Therefore, we who are not Jews must speak, speak our sorrow and indignation and disgust in so many voices … Continue reading
“I knew that I had a facility with words and a power of facing unpleasant facts.” — George Orwell
Orwell was born on this day. When Animal Farm was released in a new edition, Christopher Hitchens wrote specifically about the quote from Orwell shown in the title above. Very few people can “face unpleasant facts”. Hitchens: A commissar who … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged 1984, Animal Farm, dystopia, England, essays, George Orwell, nonfiction, politics, Russia, war
7 Comments
Review: Prime Minister (2025)
I reviewed Prime Minister, a very interesting documentary about Jacinda Ardern’s tumultuous time as the 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand. It has a somewhat unique format – at least compared to other similar documentaries.
Posted in Movies
Tagged documentary, New Zealand, politics, reviews, women directors
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“Superfluous people in the service of brute power….” — Ryszard Kapuściński
“It is an interesting subject: superfluous people in the service of brute power … these people to whom no one pays attention, whom no one needs, can form into a crowd, a throng, a mob, which has an opinion about … Continue reading
“Fear and the absence of hatred may go well together.” — Niccolò Machiavelli
Prologue, The Jew of Malta, by Christopher Marlowe, written in 1589. Machiavelli died in 1527. You can see his posthumous reputation had ballooned, just 60 years after his death. Enter MACHIAVEL. MACHIAVEL. Albeit the world think Machiavel is dead, Yet … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged Christopher Marlowe, Italy, Machiavelli, nonfiction, politics, war
10 Comments