Both diminutive in stature and frequently sick, Frédéric Chopin was in no physical position to help Poland in their uprising against the oppressive Russian rule in 1830-31.
He could, however write music intended to inspire his comrades to go kick some Russian a**.
Here’s piano virtuoso Lang Lang performing Chopin’s Heroic Polonaise, opus 53.
If you can listen to this without tears gathering in your eyes, you’re a far stronger person than I am.
We’d like to believe that what Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger says here is correct.
In truth, however, it’s all up to the American people. Trump won the 2024 election fair and square, and it’s unlikely his supporters will have any problem when he perverts the justice system to persecute his political enemies, and, of course, makes the criminal cases against him disappear.
The prevalent view of Donald Trump from people in the most of the rest of the developed world could be summed up as follows: “We just feel sorry for you Americans. We never thought it could happen to you.”
As shown at left, there are countries all around the globe in which leaders have absolute power, so we are certainly not alone. Having said that, it’s not exactly as if we’re in good company.
When I was a little boy my grandfather told me, “Try to leave this world a better place than it was when you got here.”
That sentiment is less common today than it was 60 years ago, but it certainly hasn’t entirely vanished.
Keep in mind that, as you’re reading this, there are more than 200,000 groups operating on this planet whose purpose is some blend of environmental and social justice. That’s a lot of horsepower.
Spinoza was one of the so-called continental rationalists, along with Descartes, Leibniz and others less often read today.
As suggested by Einstein at left, he had a distinctly nontraditional view of God, which got him in a great deal of trouble in the 17th Century Netherlands.
Chris Hedges is an American journalist, author, commentator and Presbyterian minister.
The observation he makes here is shared by a great number of Americans, and by people all around the world who simply wish we could remove some of the insanity from our civilization.
In the United States we have the hate and stupidity that is Trumpism, but many regions around the world are deeply troubled as well.
One of Donald Trump‘s last acts in office was to pardon Steve Bannon for running off with the wall money, meaning Bannon’s scheme to rip off thousands of gullible MAGA folks by getting them to chip into a fund to build the wall on the southern border, only to then steal the money.
If this is the type of bald-faced criminality that you’d like to see at the helm of our country, you’ll love the next four years.
I know, right?
Incredibly low unemployment, record profits and stock prices, the Fed cutting interest rates due to falling inflation. Our portfolios are going through the roof.
Obviously, anything can happen at any time, but “what this economy is going through” doesn’t exactly suck.
Let’s think about the point made at left for a second.
What’s the most important difference between the lawn-game industry and the manufacturers of firearms that are intended to be weapons of war? Answer: Billions upon billions of dollars in profits, and tens of thousands of lobbyists, swarming all over our lawmakers.
When huge amounts of money are at stake, it’s only the liberals who count the dead bodies of our children.
It’s amazing that people believe a word that comes out of this man’s mouth.
