January 3, 2009 :: Denver Lessing :: Comments Off
After the unrest that spread across France in November 2005 —when Nicolas Sarkozy was interior minister and called for the mass deportation of French-born rioters of Arabic ethnicity—, a ritual of annual arson has sprung up, with hundreds of cars burned each year on 31 December. This year, the numbers soared by 30% over last year, reaching an estimated 1,147 cars fire-bombed or “burnt out”.
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October 7, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
A revolutionary skyscraper design by Herzog and de Meuron, commonly known as ‘the Triangle’, aims to break the long-standing Parisian height barrier of 37 meters, while respecting the right of neighbors to the same quantity of sunlight they would have without the new structure. The Guardian has called it a ’shade-less ziggurat’, reference both to its irregular stepped-pyramid shape and to its playing a central role in the evolution of the spirit of the times, in design terms, in a city whose emblematic architecture is, somehow, also a sacred essence.
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June 2, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
Recién inaugurada en el Palais de Tokyo, en París, Francia, ‘Superdome’ explora el sufrimiento humano vinculado con situaciones donde el desastre se sigue con transformaciones socio-económicas de escala casi incomprensible. La exposición concentra su atención temática en la situación que encontraron los habitantes de Nueva Orleans, cuando el huracán “Katrina” y su consecuente desintegración cívica los desplazaron hacia un caos tormentoso, su entorno físico devastado, forzados a llevar el peso extraño de ver cómo se borró la geografía económica de su ciudad para ser reemplazada por algo desconocido.
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May 31, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
A new exhibit at the Palais de Tokyo, in Paris, France, examines the human suffering inherent in situations where disaster is followed by economic transformation of nearly incomprehensible proportions. ‘Superdome’ focuses its thematic attention on the situation encountered by citizens of New Orleans, displaced into chaos by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the devastation of their physical environment followed by the strange burden of seeing the economic geography of their city wiped away and replaced by something unknown to them.
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November 27, 2007 :: admin :: Comments Off
27 November :: 40 nations to gather at Annapolis summit for Mideast peace negotiations; Israel, Palestinian leaders express hope for progress on comprehensive peace deal, while Hamas leader, ex-Palestinian PM, Haniyeh, says the Palestinian people will not be bound by what his rival Abbas agrees to… French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy has urged calm as riots [...]
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November 22, 2007 :: admin :: Comments Off
22 November :: Recently retired army chief, long-time Chávez ally, Gen. Baduel under attack for break with Venezuelan president, as Chávez supporters label him ‘traitor’; Baduel, who helped restore Chávez to power after failed 2002 coup, has said he disagrees with plans to change constitution to allow indefinite presidential term; IHT reports such critique “considered [...]
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October 21, 2007 :: admin :: Comments Off
21 October :: Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, has stepped down, allegedly over differences with Pres. Ahmadinejad; Iran gov’t says there is no rift among leadership, diplomats, Larijani will attend meeting with UN representatives to ease transition to new negotiator’s team… At least 9 casualties reported in PKK raid on Turkish forces near Iraqi [...]
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October 16, 2007 :: admin :: Comments Off
16 October :: 1st official ‘baby-boomer’ begins collecting Social Security; as many as 80 million Americans from her generation will eventually collect the government pension payments… NY Times ‘The Caucus’ blog reports Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy would “Use both hard power and soft power; talk to your enemies and strengthen alliances with your friends; deal [...]
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May 25, 2006 :: J.E. Robertson :: 3 Comments
Is the United States an “English-speaking nation”, or a place where all cultures are welcome to converge, mix and evolve? To answer this question, we must consider that there is a natural human tendency to fear what is perceived as the definite and invasive “other”, that which is different and which we feel can be categorized in a way that fits our worries.
The push to establish a single national language can only be sustained on the basis of a number of false premises. We will explore seven such lies and misperceptions here, all of a particular sort, having to do with a way of rationalizing one’s aversion to difference or to change. And, in each case, it is fairly easy to illustrate how the lie works against the interests of both a democratic society and American tradition itself.
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