Naimisha Forest
'Battleship Potemkin': A Gift for Violence
I watched ‘Battleship Potemkin’ again the other day, on streaming video, after – well, a very long time. This 1925 communist propaganda film by Soviet director Sergei 
Eisenstein draws loosely on historical events, the mutiny aboard a ship of the Russian imperial navy, during the failed 1905 revolution against the . . .
Posted in: communismfilmmilitaryrevolutionrussia
Why Trump?
I try to stay away from overtly partisan political blogging. One more article on why we should loathe or love Donald Trump? Please. Still, it’s hard to resist the odd political observation. There was abundant commentary in late January on the first anniversary of the Trump presidency. The President’s supporters celebrated his . . .
Posted in: clintonsethnicityfree speechidentity politicsimmigrationnationobamapolitical correctnesspoliticsreligiontrumpusa
Black Swans: Burke, Keynes, Taleb
Branco Milanovic has a very interesting post on why Nassim Nicholas Taleb is “one of the most important thinkers today.”
Milanovic is a professor of economics at CUNY, a leading student of income inequality, 
and not one, I suppose, to lightly hand out such praise. Taleb, you recall, is a former derivatives trader, . . .
Posted in: conservatismedmund burkeepistemologyinstitutionsj.m. keynespolitical philosophyprobabilityscientific method
Cats and Rats: Happy Birthday Ulysses
Today, February 2nd, 2018 marks several big dates in James Joyce world, says Emily Temple in “Ulysses – Good and Bad.”
“This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first appearance of James Joyce’s Ulysses—it was first serialized in The Little Review between March 1918 and December . . .
Posted in: fictionhomerjames joyce
Truthtelling from the sh—hole, or ‘Make Africa Great Again.’
Some of the racket about President Trump’s alleged politically incorrect reference to ‘shithole countries’ was that it would likely offend African elites. Which it did; the African Union issued an angry protest, for example. But it’s less plausible that 
the alleged comment would offend ordinary Africans, who endure all . . .
Posted in: africadevelopmentimmigrationtrump
Remarkable poll numbers on immigration: why Democrats folded on the government shutdown
Little wonder Chuck Schumer and the Democrats folded on the government shutdown. Look no further than this Harvard-Harris poll released yesterday: the public supports 
the sort of immigration deal President Trump wants by a margin of around 2 to 1.
Specifically: “Would you favor or oppose a congressional deal that . . .
Posted in: democracyimmigrationnation state
Family and Country
"We begin our public affections in our families. No cold relation is a zealous citizen. We pass on to our neighbourhoods, and our habitual provincial connexions. These are inns and resting-places. Such divisions of our country as have been formed by habit, and not by a sudden jerk of authority, were so many little images of the great country . . .
Cover image credit: http://Pinterest
