Boston Review — John R. Bowen: Europeans Against Multiculturalism
Very clear discussion of European challenges in this area.
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Shelley in Egypt: How a British Poem Inspired the Arab Spring | Book Think | Big Think
This article led me to read Shelley’s “The Masque of Anarchy” in it’s entirety. The poem was more compelling to me than the article. The article calls this poem “stale,” “predictable,” and “earnestly polemical.” However, I still enjoy reading historical poetry like this. In this case, it made me wonder about the basic ideas Shelley was clothing in allegorical garb like Murder and Fraud. I especially like that Hypocrisy was “clothed with the Bible, as with light, and the shadows of the night.”
Anyway, you can read the article and the poem and make your own conclusions.
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It’s a season of recall for Voters in Wisconsin by Monica Davey
I continue to marvel at instances where people insist on language to serve their own ends:
“Mr. Tate predicted that Democrats would win back control of the Senate, even with what he called “the fake Democrats” (the Republicans, who encouraged those bids, prefer the term “protest candidates”) running in Tuesday’s races.” from Monica Davey’s article linked above
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Dissent Magazine – Online Features – Blaming Women for the Infantilization of Men –
I have this bookmarked to maybe read.
I find when writers or commentators begin talking about gender roles, they lose me. I had to turn off NPR this morning because I couldn’t stand listening to descriptions of “gender” issues that were put forth as typical that strike me as so idiotic and superficial.
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Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth
According to the Writers Almanac Site, today was the day that Wordsworth began writing this poem. I have a soft spot in my heart for the Romantics. I also like today’s poem for the day, “Joy” by George Bilgere which ends nicely this way:
And this morning I woke up
feeling like a little French village
the Nazis suddenly decided to pull out of
after a particularly cruel occupation.The baker has come back to his store
and everything smells like warm baguettes.
The children are playing in the schoolyard,
the piano bars along the river
have thrown open their doors.And here you are, with coffee
and an open blouse, and two cool breasts
from the land of joy.
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I need to wrap this up. First a few links from Boing Boing I plan to check out:
Woman Faces Jail Time For Growing Veggies In Front Yard
By Ben Popken on July 11, 2011 12:00 PM
NuPenny Store in Wichita is never open
Mark Frauenfelder at 4:05 PM Tuesday, Jul 12, 2011
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And a couple of links about the place I’m visiting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona,_California
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rancho_Temescal_(Serrano)
Temescal is a local place name that you see on road signs. It is Spanish for “Sweat bath or lodge.”
On the road signs “canyon” is often abbreviated to “cyn” which I think looks vaguely Welch.
