Author Archives: jsl915@aol.com

and you want to curl up with a biography of a turn-of-the-twentieth century opera star.  I know you do. And one of the best is Clara Leiser’s Jean De Reszke and the Great Days of Opera. Those sonically appalling Mapleson … Continue reading →

Laura Clawson at dailykos.com describes how New York and Connecticut (governed by Democrats, both) are fighting the shameful cuts to food stamps.

The Thom Hartman Program documents the way that Reuters “news” service suppresses reality-based reporting on catastrophic climate change, referencing studies by Media Matters for America and the Columbia Journalism Review.

When La Valse came back to New York City Ballet Friday night, everyone in the cast–from lead couple Janie Taylor and Sebastien Marcovici to Ralph Ippolito as Death’s insidious little assistant–existed on stage as if they knew what they were … Continue reading →

You don’t include cuts to Social Security in the middle of an ongoing retirement crisis, in the middle of an economic “recovery” that has benefited the very same people who caused the economy to collapse, so that you can appease … Continue reading →

Thinking creatively–in Rubio’s world-view, that’s ni nada, as you’d say in Russian. And it certainly won’t help Rubio’s advoacy on behalf of the .5 percent. Rubio lets it be known that art history’s not a subject worth study. And he … Continue reading →

One reason the U.S.  government is so ineffectual countering foreign human rights abuses is our own record. Andrea Germanos at Common Dreams reports on the 84-year-old nun who’s going behind bars.

My mother’s great-uncle Ward went to Yale as an undergraduate in the 1890s; we have his letters discussing the plight of those denuded by that decade’s Panic/Depression. And he writes about attending concerts by the great entertainers who toured to … Continue reading →

Kyle Stock at Business Week writes about how Under Armour discovered ballet and Misty Copeland.

I mean, it’s nice that they finally did a tribute to Tallulah, (they’re really not good about saluting stage stars who made movies), but this statement in their wwebsite bio makes you wonder if anyone’s home over there. “it was … Continue reading →