CORPORATIONS—THE GOOD AND THE BAD
A CORPORATION is a legally authorized entity formed to pursue a particular goal. It might be manufacturing lightbulbs, selling firearms, or myriad other endeavors of modern civilization. Two things recently … Continue reading
TREACHERY—AN ETYMOLOGICAL AND EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
SEEKING AN example of unmitigated treachery, I offer Trump and DeVos’ recent proposal for educational aspects in the fiscal 2019 federal budget. According to whitehouse.gov, “The President is responsible for … Continue reading
VIKING MOJO
JUAN COLE is the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan, with a speciality in the relationships of the Muslim world with the West. I … Continue reading
BERNSTEIN’S (AND VOLTAIRE’S) CANDIDE
I’M IN GOOD company asking whether Leonard Bernstein’s Candide is an opera, an operetta, or a musical comedy. No less than the composer himself asked the same question, with his … Continue reading
HENRY IV 1,2 REDUX
“TOM HANKS, Rita Wilson to Star in Los Angeles Production of ‘Henry IV.’ ” So reads a February 13, 2018, headline in Variety. This play is a production of the … Continue reading
THE ADVENTURE OF FATS WALLER AND BOSTON BLACKIE
JAZZ PIANIST and composer Fats Waller wrote perhaps 400 songs, among them “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” “Ain’t Misbehavin,” and “On the Sunny Side of the Street.” Boston … Continue reading
#resistancegenealogy—ONE PERSON CAN MATTER
“IT’S HILARIOUS how easy it is to find hypocrisy,” says Jennifer Mendelsohn. Her hashtag #resistancegenealogy describes her response to hypocritical panderings concerning immigration. One person can matter, especially if she’s … Continue reading
SILVIO BERLUSCONI: ITALY’S DONALD TRUMP?
WHICH GUY is more insulted by this title? I’ve read that Berlusconi cannot stand the comparison. “Berlusconi is Back. Again. This Time, as Italy’s ‘Nonno’.” by Jason Horowitz in The … Continue reading
THE LECLAIR CAPER
TO CALL this item the Leclair Case might confuse it with how Jean-Marie Leclair carried his violin. Indeed, I’m referring to this French composer’s murder. As with any good mystery, … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY: TRUMPERY
TODAY’S ADDITION to my series of Etymology for our Times almost wrote itself. For the word “trumpery,” I consulted my usual Merriam-Webster, The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 