Louis MacNeice captures what northern California is experiencing in “Brother Fire.” The poem also reveals a disturbing dark side in how we respond to catastrophe.
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Tag Archives: Donald Trump
Brother Fire Ravages California
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Brother Fire", California wildfires, climate change, climate denialism, global warming, Louis MacNeice, Scott Pruitt Comments closed
Las Vegas: Our Killers, Ourselves
As a white man, the Las Vegas shooter could not be fitted into an easy right wing Other narrative. “Beowulf” shows how monsters generally look like us.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beowulf, destructive anger, Muslim ban, racism, Stephen Paddock Comments closed
If Fielding Had Written about Trump
Henry Fielding would have had a field day writing about America’s president.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Henry Fielding, Historical Register for the Year 1736, Jonathan Wild the Great, Tom Jones Comments closed
Assertive Women Drive Lear, Trump Mad
Lear is driven mad by his assertive daughters. Are strong women like the San Juan mayor also sending Trump around the bend?
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged assertive women, Carmen Yulin Cruz, Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico, William Shakespeare Comments closed
While the President Golfed…
Sarah Cleghorn’s famous poem “The Golf Links” captures our president, who golfs while Puerto Rico starves.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Golf Links", CHIP, Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico, Sarah Cleghorn Comments closed
May We Sail without Giving into Our Fears
A Noah’s Ark poem by the great Syrian poet Adonis can be applied to the Puerto Rico rescue effort, especially as certain people on the right attempt to inject race into the affair.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "New Noah", Adonis, analysis, evangelicals, flooding, Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico, racism Comments closed
Trump in Chaucer, Shakespeare & Conrad
When compared to people called “dotard” in Chaucer and Shakespeare, Trump fits the insult hurled at him by Kim Jong-un. His statement to African leaders, meanwhile, makes him sound like a “Heart of Darkness” ivory trader.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Africa, Capitalism, Geoffrey Chaucer, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, Kim Jong-un, King Lear, Wife of Bath, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Handmaid’s Emmy, A Sign of Its Urgency
The Emmys signaled that “Handmaid’s Tale” is as relevant as ever as America’s misogyny deepens. So is Euripides’s “The Bacchae.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Bacchae, Euripides, Feminism, Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood, misogyny Comments closed
No Miss Havisham for Hillary
In her account of the 2016 election aftermath, Hillary Clinton resolved not to become a Miss Havisham. This is testimony to her depth of soul.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, Hillary Clinton, Miss Havisham Comments closed