Victory in Europe? ‘The picture of Belsen was one of hell, what I imagine hell to be. Skeletons shuffling along. You could speak to someone and they would die in front of you, just collapse where they were. There were dead bodies all around.’ — Mala Tribich, a survivor of Belsen Bergen-Belsen or…

A pagan and Christian dialectic — “I sat upon the shore Fishing, with the arid plain behind me Shall I at least set my lands in order? London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down Poi s’ascose nel foco che gli affina Quando fiam uti chelidon — O swallow swallow Le Prince d’Aquitaine à la tour abolie These fragments I have shored…

A Zombie Pandora: Young. Gifted. And Black. ‘‘The brutal truth is that the bulk of white people in American never had any interest in educating black people, except as this could serve white purposes. It is not the black child’s language that is in question, it is not his language that is despised: It is his experience…

Burning down the house — ExxonMobil is one of a number of oil companies facing lawsuits in the US accusing them of seeking to conceal the true impact of fossil fuel use from the public. According to leaked internal documents from Exxon — which became ExxonMobil in 1999 — scientists working for Exxon and then…

Of remakes and reminiscences “You’ve been given a great gift, George, a chance to see what the world would be like without you.” — Clarence, Its A Wonderful Life I hadn't seen Jumanji (1995)) in donkey's years ever since I first bought the video. Yes. You heard right the video…

I want the 3 hours back Mr. Scorsese I have a confession to make. I had not seen Gangs of New York directed by Martin Scorsese until Saturday night when it was shown on the British TV channel Film 4. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis as ‘Bill’ and Leonardo DiCaprio as…

Love will tear us apart. “But yet let me lament with tears as sovereign as the blood of hearts […] that our stars, irreconcilable, should divide our equalness to this.” ― William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra Yes, I have seen the film Antony and Cleopatra (1963) with Richard Burton and…

Love. Free will. Death. “Affliction is enamoured of thy parts, And thou art wedded to calamity.” ― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.” — James Baldwin Truly if any man or woman…

A ‘Minimum Service’ guarantee? — ″‘Business!’ cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. ‘Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!’” — Charles Dickens, ‘A Christmas…