THREE VIGNETTES SHOW THE LAMENTABLE STATE OF OUR COUNTRY PART 1
PRONOUNCEMENTS FROM THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION continue to emphasize its dedicated march to autocracy. Just so there’s no BS about its meaning (like the phony “antifa/terrorism”), Merriam-Webster defines “autocracy” as “1. … Continue reading
BANKSY LIMITLESS, SORTA
BANKSY, WIKIPEDIA DESCRIBES, “is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist, and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, … Continue reading
CIVICS TRUMP 2.0 PART 2
YESTERDAY WAS PROMPTED BY TRUMP’S digging out Civics 2020, his first administration’s revamping of Civics 2008, the latter having served admirably for 17 years helping people becoming U.S. citizens. Needless to … Continue reading
CIVICS TRUMP 2.0 PART 1
ON OCTOBER 20, 2025, THERE’S A NEW CIVICS TEST of naturalization. Well, sorta new. With careful reading, it’s more like “A New Trump Administration Low,” as described here back on … Continue reading
DOES ANYONE BELIEVE TRUMP??
RECENT HAPPENINGS AT THE U.N. and back in Washington, D.C., questioned more than Trump’s truthfulness (climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” inflation “defeated,” grocery prices … Continue reading
BRIBES? LET’S CALL THEM “GIFTS”
I WAS RESEARCHING THE PASSAGE OF CASH in CAVA bags, and what better source than Brewer’s Rogues, Villains & Eccentrics? Brewer’s Rogues, Villains & Eccentrics: An A–Z of Roguish Britons … Continue reading
OPERA AND COLONIALISM PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE BEGAN WITH TIDBITS OF SIMON BANK’S ARTICLE “Terra (In)Cognita” gleaned from Opera with Opera News, the latter a part of my Metropolitan Opera membership. Today in Part 2, … Continue reading
OPERA AND COLONIALISM PART 1
MY LATEST OPERA WITH OPERA NEWS contains “Terra (In)Cognita,” by Simon Banks. He “highlights shifting attitudes towards colonialism as reflected in opera across the centuries.” Surely an interesting topic. Indeed, … Continue reading
THE BIG LIFT AND TRUMP’S DEMOCRACY
TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES RECENTLY SHOWED THE BIG LIFT, a 1950 Hollywood drama centered around the Soviet blockage of Berlin and the allies subsequently successful support of the city by air … Continue reading