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The Other Half of Free Speech: Your Listeners
On June 30 another sad chapter was added to the city of Portland’s long history of public violence when antifa and far-right protestors clashed at a downtown rally that began with a police permit but was soon declared a riot. It was the second time in a month that...
read moreDemocracy’s Dream and La Bestia
When Rebecca Cammisa chose the title for her 2009 documentary about "The Beast," a train that migrants use to cross Mexico coming to the U.S., it was directedly pointed at the passengers. "Which Way Home" chronicled the story of a handful of passengers - all younger...
read moreHuman Flow by Ai Weiwei: A Witness and a Question
Small boats spilling people into the waves. The flickering lights of cell phones. Broken buildings. Walking. Waiting. Walking. Walking. Walking. Waiting. Single words and phrases, rather than complete sentences, seem to capture the essence of Human Flow, the film by...
read moreFear of Music*
(*a nod to Talking Heads' album of the same name) When chatting with a bandmate the other day, I rhetorically questioned why certain musicians end up becoming darlings of the hipsterverse and media while other musicians of equal or greater talent can't get arrested....
read moreThe Florida Project: Life on the Periphery of the American Dream
The Florida Project opens with the camera three feet off the ground, eye-level with children sitting in the Florida sun, their backs against the pink stucco wall of the decaying motel where they live. The kids conspire to make their way to the second-floor breezeway...
read more“Political defiance” in the Middle East?
I want to follow up on what Qaisar Shareef has written about Palestine and Israel ("Holy War in the Promised Land," May 19) by calling attention to the writings of Gene Sharp, who advocated nonviolence - or, as he termed it, political defiance, as an alternative to...
read moreHoly War in the Promised Land
A grand event took place in Jerusalem on May 14, 2018 when, with extreme fanfare, the U.S. Embassy in Israel was moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The city was recognized by the U.S. government for the first time as the capital of the state of Israel, putting aside...
read moreFull Circle: A Story of Hope
Introducing Debbie, a woman in her early thirties, happily married and running her own successful catering business. The youngest in a close-knit family of five, Debbie’s wisdom is respected by her siblings and her counsel sought by them frequently despite her being...
read moreReview: The Snow Leopard
I recently reread Peter Matthiessen’s The Snow Leopard, a work of nonfiction published in 1978 that won the National Book Award for its depiction of Matthiessen’s spiritual explorations. I first read it 30 years ago: I was 23, trekking through Nepal, and looking for...
read moreA Country That Continues to Defy Description
I grew up in Pakistan, and I have lived abroad – in Turkey, and then in the US, for the last 45 years. Throughout this time, I have continued to stay close to the goings-on in my native country. Much of the news about Pakistan in recent years, particularly in Western...
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