A guy named Fred Seaman is all over the conservative blogs today for a new documentary in which he claims that John Lennon was “a closet Republican” at the time he was shot. This seems unlikely.
First of all, who is Fred Seaman? . . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com HERE
and see also Patt Morrison’s blog HERE
Journalism
Bad Political Art at the Venice Biennale – Dissent 6/16
The American pavilion at the Venice Biennale features an upside down tank — symbol of the impotence of US imperialism — and an example of really bad political art.
. . . continued at Dissent Magazine HERE.
Ai Weiwei at the Venice Bienalle: ChinaBeat 6/15
At the world’s biggest art event this summer, the Venice Biennale, the world’s most famous imprisoned artist, Ai Weiwei, was not exactly neglected—but his case received virtually no official acknowledgment. . . . an unofficial contribution, “Bye Bye Ai Weiwei,” written in six-foot tall white neon letters along the Giudecca canal, was visible to all the passing vapporetti.
. . . Continued at TheChinaBeat.org, HERE.
Vicent Bugliosi: Agnosticism vs. Atheism – L.A.Times Festival of Books 5/1
Best-selling true crime writer and former prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi says believers and atheists are both wrong about “the God Question”: the only reasonable position, he argues, is “I don’t know, and neither do you.” I’ll be talking with Bugliosi about his new book Divinity of Doubt: The God Question at the L.A. Times Festival of Books at USC on Sunday May 1 at 10:30 in the Campus Center Ballroom.
Bay of Pigs at 50: The Lessons Kennedy Never Learned — The Nation 4/18
It’s the fiftieth anniversary of the Bay of Pigs, April 17-18, 1961, when a CIA-trained army of Cuban exiles were sent by President Kennedy to overthrow Fidel Castro. Their humiliating defeat showed the world that Cubans would fight to defend their revolution, especially against an invasion sponsored by the United States. But that’s not the lesson Kennedy learned from his first great defeat as president.
. . . . Continued at TheNation.com HERE
Bob Dylan in Beijing: No Sellout. The Nation 4/14
Bob Dylan did not sell out to the Chinese government when he performed in Beijing on April 6. The “sellout” charge was made in the New York Times on Sunday by Maureen Dowd, along with several other people. The problem: Dylan submitted his set list to the Chinese culture ministry, according to The Guardian’s Martin Wieland in Beijing, and as a result the concert was performed “strictly according to an approved programme.”
. . . contined at TheNation.com HERE
NPR Station in L.A. Pulls Planned Parenthood Spots — The Nation 4/10
One of two NPR stations in the Los Angeles area, KPCC-FM, suspended its regularly-scheduled Planned Parenthood spots on Friday, in response to Republican demands that Congress eliminate federal funding for the family planning group.
. . . . Contined at TheNation.com HERE
Change Comes to Nixonland: L.A. Times op-ed 4/5
Watergate was “the ultimate stress test” for the nation, says Timothy Naftali, director of the Nixon Library. It was also a stress test for the National Archives and the Nixon Library. . . .
. . . continued at the L.A. Times op-ed page HERE
Wisconsin’s Cronon Affair: The Power of a Simple Fact — The Nation, 3/28
More than a million people teach at colleges and universities in the United States, but only one faces a Republican demand for his e-mails: William Cronon, who teaches history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. . . . What does it take to become the target of this kind of attack?
. . . continued at TheNation.com HERE
Liz Taylor and the Raid on Entebbe: Nation 3/25
When Elizabeth Taylor died, Al Jazeera English reported that her greatest role was Cleopatra.
They didn’t report that she had offered herself as a hostage at Entebbe in exchange for the 100 hijack victims held by terrorists at that airport in Uganda in 1976. . . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com HERE