Friday, February 27, 2015

Critical Knowledge: "What Isis Really Wants" in The Atlantic

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Graeme Wood's article in the March 2015 issue of The Atlantic explores the complications and contradictions of the group waging their ow...
Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Solzhenitsyn, Putin and the New Old Russia

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In an article in Politico, Peter Eltsov explores the improbably relationship between Russian leader and former KGB official Vladimir Putin a...
Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Freedom Now, Freedom Forever: Cui Jian "Nothing to My Name"

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Using the metaphor of a young guy talking to his girlfriend, who rejects him because he has nothing, Cui Jian, preeminent Chinese musician,...
Monday, January 19, 2015

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1968

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Photos from the Ebenezer Baptist Church and Dr. King Historical National Memorial Site in Atlanta by Tony Napoli   While it seems the journe...
Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Thomas Merton: Writer, Mystic, Spiritual Seeker

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What's the opposite of an encomium? Poet Thomas Merton explored this in "Hymn of Not Much Praise for New York City "; Merton, ...
Saturday, January 10, 2015

Coda: Four Jewish Murdered Hostages in Paris Identified

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P4:45 P.M.   The Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions has released the names of the four hostages killed at the kosher super...

After Paris, Time to Drop the "T" Word

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Tired of seeing the portraits of the three murderers of Paris -- let's see portraits of those killed. The innocent folks killed in the k...
Friday, January 9, 2015

Brother Francis - traces, words, images

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On a windy and snowy Friday, up the marble steps and in the distinguished chambers of Brooklyn Borough Hall, a remarkable event is underw...

"We Can Talk"

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The Band performance at Woodstock, 1969.
Thursday, January 1, 2015

Chris Ofili at The New Museum

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British artist Chris Ofili is probably best known for his Painting The Holy Virgin which included clumps of elephant dung and which led then...
Thursday, December 25, 2014

A Coffee from the Heart

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At Gran Caffe Gambrinus in Napoli, Italy, many customers enjoy their coffee with some sugar, but for some it is even sweeter when they add a...
Monday, December 15, 2014

A Modest Proposal: A Real “Vision Zero” for New York City in 2015

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It would take an enormous amount of restraint, introspection and, yes, “vision” on the part of all parties, but the people and the gover...
Sunday, December 14, 2014

David Lynch: The Unifying Field

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Drawings, paintings, multimedia illustrations and early films reflecting the work of director David Lynch when he was a student at the Phila...
Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Reasons to Be Cheerful: Seven Global Trends to Be Very, Very Thankful For

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Washington Post wonkblog reports on seven global trends-- from child mortality to poverty to war-- that show that despite humanity's ...
Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Isaac Asimov's Lost Essay on Creativity

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A lost essay by the author and visionary Isaac Asimov was recently discovered by Arthur Obermayer, a scientist- friend of the author and was...