Voltaire’s Candide, or Optimism (1759) is widely recognised as his masterpiece. A darkly satirical novella taking aim at human folly, pride and excessive faith in reason’s ability to plumb the deepest metaphysical truths, it remains as telling in this era of pandemics and wild conspiracy theories as when first published.
Commentary
What James Earl Jones Can Teach Us About Activism and Art
James Earl Jones was looking to change the culture. He was trying to change the country’s understanding of what it means to fight – and what a freedom fighter is. Sometimes, activism can be as simple as making art to the best of your abilities – or, as W.E.B. Du Bois wrote, “to use beauty to set the world right.”
Advise and Consent. Just Not to Matt Gaetz.
Matt Gaetz is virtually no one’s idea of a qualified nominee. The man is a graduate of William and Mary Law School, a fact that must have the ghost of Thomas Jefferson pulling out his sepulchral hair. He practiced law for less than two years in a civil firm, has no criminal law experience and was briefly suspended for not paying certain administrative fees but was later reinstated.
One More Delusion: Trump Thinks He Can Solve the Middle East.
Donald Trump has promised to end all wars. In his usual impulsive and unpredictable manner, he has pledged to resolve the Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office and help Israel finish its Gaza and Lebanon operations quickly. Yet the Middle East is a complex place. Given the absence of a Gaza ceasefire, the thin hope of a halt to the Lebanon fighting, Netanyahu’s intransigence and Trump’s pursuance of an “Israel first” policy, the Middle East’s volatility is likely to persist.
The Taliban’s Violent Erasure of Women Through Its ‘Vice and Virtue’ Law
A newly passed “vice and virtue” law is among the most repressive and discriminatory measures ever enacted by the Taliban, an Islamist fundamentalist group controlling Afghanistan. The new law seeks to completely silence women in public. They are prohibited from speaking, singing or praying aloud. The law also attempts to literally erase them from view, ordering women to cover every part of their body and face in public.
Where Florida Went, The Nation Is About to Follow
Goodbye to America defining itself as a Beacon of Hope, the Light of Freedom, or any of that other stuff they told you in 3rd grade: the rule of law, checks and balances, free speech, science-based health care, and son on: we saw it all in Florida. It was just prelude.
Sewage and Fertilizer Threaten Florida Manatee’s Main Food Source, and Survival
Research shows manatees are eating less seagrass – traditionally their primary food source – and more algae than in decades past. This change occurred along Florida’s Atlantic coast during a period of extensive seagrass decline. This represents an emerging threat to the species’ survival.
How Polls Did This Time
Polls’ collective performance, while not stellar, was improved from that of four years earlier. Overall, polls signaled a close outcome in the race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. That is what the election produced: a modest win for Trump. Trump had received 50.1% of the popular vote to Harris’ 48.1%, a difference of 2 points. That margin was closer than Joe Biden’s win by 4.5 points over Trump in 2020. It was closer than Hillary Clinton’s popular vote victory in 2016.
Moby-Dick, The Book for Our Times
We can’t afford permanent enmity or exile from each other. Secession and civil war might be a nice distraction but consumer splurging suggests that’s not in the cards. So for all of us grass-leaved Americans, “Moby-Dick” is the book for us, in this moment, in this whale of whiteness delirium. “Moby-Dick” is our book of revelation.
Federal Judge Bans 10 Commandments from Classrooms
Do the Ten Commandments have a valid place in U.S. classrooms? Louisiana’s Legislature and governor insist the answer is “yes.” But on Nov. 12, 2024, a federal judge said “no.” Litigation over the Ten Commandments is not new. More than 40 years ago, in Stone v. Graham, the Supreme Court rejected a Kentucky statute that mandated displays of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.