"Extensive flooding inundated villages and swept away structures after a dam was destroyed in southern Ukraine on Tuesday, according to local officials and imagery of the aftermath. With the waters still rising and reliable information hard to come by — especially from Russian-held areas east of the Dnipro River — the full magnitude of the threat was difficult to gauge. But some towns are already submerged, and more than 40,000 people may be in the path of the flooding on both sides of the river, according to the deputy prosecutor general of Ukraine.The river is not expected to crest until Wednesday morning. ...”
Barboncino Workers Are Forming New York City’s First Unionized Stand-Alone Pizzeria
"From my seat at the bar of the popular Crown Heights pizzeria Barboncino on Memorial Day evening, I could see Jared Berrien, a pizza chef, or pizzaiolo, who has worked at Barboncino for about a year, stationed outside of the restaurant’s wood-fired hearth. Berrien told me that the volume of orders that come in on a night like this one makes the work resemble an assembly line. I could see he wasn’t wrong: between delivery orders and in-person dining, it was hard to keep track of the number of pizzas he was plating. ...”
The Essential Chomsky – Noam Chomsky (2008)
"Noam Chomsky is a powerhouse of insightful thought – this book attests to that. So analyzing or even summarizing Anthony Arnove’s The Essential Chomsky is no simple task. A moderately lengthy and notably chronological collection of texts plucked from Chomsky’s enormous output, The Essential Chomsky leaps from linguistics to Palestine to libertarian socialism and back to linguistics again. Given the political nature of Against the Current, we will focus on Chomsky’s views on political philosophy, morality, U.S. foreign and domestic policy, and propaganda, ending with thoughts on the editing. But first, a few introductory remarks on the man himself. ...”
2011 January: Peak Oil and a Changing Climate, 2015 May: The Limits of Discourse As Demonstrated by Sam Harris and Noam Chomsky, 2015 October: Electing the President of an Empire, 2015 December: Noam Chomsky on Paris attacks, 2016 December: Chomsky: Humanity Faces Real and Imminent Threats to Our Survival, 2017 April: Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power (2016), 2017 July: Noam Chomsky: Neoliberalism Is Destroying Our Democracy, 2020 May: Requiem for the American Dream (2017), 2021 April: Noam Chomsky on Anarchism, Human Nature and Joe Biden
Russia claims Ukraine has launched a major attack in the east
"Russia said Monday that Ukraine’s military had launched a significant attack in a bid to break through its defenses on the war’s southeastern front lines. Reports of heavy fighting from officials in Moscow and the country’s cadre of influential military bloggers fueled speculation that this could be the beginning of the major counteroffensive that Kyiv has been preparing for months to reclaim occupied land. And yet Ukraine denied the claims, accusing Russia of lying in order to sow distrust and suggesting that the long-anticipated attack was still yet to come. The Russian defense ministry said in an overnight statement that Ukrainian ground forces had launched ‘a large-scale offensive’ on Sunday in five areas of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. ...”
Ukrainian forces have been preparing for months to launch a broad counteroffensive against Russian positions.
Spain In Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939 - Adam Hochschild (2016)
George Orwell, center, and his wife, Eileen, kneeling beside him, on the day she visited his unit.
“Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939 is a non-fiction book by Adam Hochschild that was first published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on March 29, 2016. The book is an account of the American volunteers who participated in the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. The story centers around several American volunteer fighters and journalists, tracing their motivations for joining the war and their experiences during the war which left many disillusioned. The book explains the involvement of foreign leaders including Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Joseph Stalin, and explains why the Republican faction ultimately lost. ...”
YouTube: Spain in Our Hearts 1:09:20, Spain In Our Hearts (1) 1:43:44
Karen Vogt ~ Losing the Sea / Losing the Sea Remixes (2023)
"Losing the Sea has gone through various incarnations, beginning with its original release on Mare Nostrum earlier this year. Now that remixes and original sea recordings have joined the lineup, the package finally seems complete. As a kind bonus, no matter which version a person purchases, the other is included. Losing the Sea is about longing for the sea: a feeling of loss following a move from Australia to Paris. ...”
Kyiv missile strikes: Tracking the rise of Russian attacks
"The Ukrainian capital Kyiv has been repeatedly hit by missiles and drones over the past few weeks. Most of the attacks come at night. In central Kyiv, Nataliya Lyashchenko has lost count of the number of times where the sound of air sirens, drones and missiles have stopped her sleeping. During one night-time raid, she said the bright lights in the dark sky were ‘like Star Wars’. Strikes like these are becoming more frequent. Experts believe Russia is changing its tactics in an attempt to sap Ukraine's air defences - but also suspect that, to some degree, it is lashing out at Ukraine's civilian population in response to setbacks in the war. ...”
The Literary Influences of Paul Theroux
"In the world of travel writing, few names evoke the sense of adventure and profound observation like that of Paul Theroux. With an insatiable wanderlust and unyielding curiosity, Theroux has dedicated his life to exploring the farthest reaches of the globe, capturing the essence of each destination through poignant prose. Born in Medford, Massachusetts, in 1941, Theroux launched his literary career with the 1975 publication of The Great Railway Bazaar, a chronicle of his four-month train journey from Great Britain to Japan and back. In the decades since, his pen has become a conduit to distant lands and cultures – from the teeming streets of Mumbai to the remote villages of Africa – unraveling the tangled webs of human existence with keen observation, incisive wit, and unflinching empathy.
SNIK and Haunting Portraits 'Exhale' in Utsira, Norway
"SNIK, the artist duo known for their hand-cut stencil art, has announced their latest project, ‘EXHALE.’ The endeavor spans the remote Norwegian island of Utsira and the city of Stavanger, exploring our connection to nature. The island’s small community lives harmoniously with the cycles of growth and decay, inspiring SNIK’s work. Three murals—Pathways, Afterthought, and Exhale—were created on Utsira, depicting the overwhelming presence of nature, and reclaiming serene subjects. The murals aim to blend with the environment, utilizing muted color palettes that respect the island’s peaceful partnership with its inhabitants. ...”
Chechen troops said to mobilise as Russian children flee border
"Fighters from Russia’s Chechnya region under the command of leader Ramzan Kadyrov have likely been ordered to take a leading role in the fighting in Ukraine in a week when the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region announced the evacuation of children amid ongoing cross-border attacks from Ukraine. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington, DC-based think tank, said in its latest report on Thursday that Russian military commanders had likely ordered the Chechens into battle following the withdrawal of Wagner Group mercenary forces from the destroyed city of Bakhmut. According to the ISW, Kadyrov claimed on Wednesday that his forces had received new orders and would be deploying to ‘active combat activities’ to ‘liberate’ a series of settlements after assuming responsibility for the front line in Ukraine’s southeast Donetsk region, which includes the contested city of Bakhmut. ...”
NBC News: Russian bombardment of Ukraine’s capital kills at least 3 people, including a child (Video)
Guardian - ‘Fear is contagious but so is courage’: the Ukrainian soldiers training to retake Bakhmut
Police investigators inspect the body of a person killed at a municipal clinic compound damaged in a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 1, 2023.
Stop worrying about time-wasting – every team does it and it’s not getting (much) worse
"Time-wasting. By all accounts, a massive waste of time… or a means to an end by which a football team can win a match. There have been several high-profile examples this season of what has felt like inexorably painful bouts of time-wasting. Players dropping to the ground one, two, even three at a time in the closing stages of matches, ‘keepers taking an age with goal kicks… it’s felt extremely common. Because it is common. It basically happens in every single match — and that’s nothing new. …”
‘Nation Of Millions’: Why Public Enemy’s Masterpiece Cannot Be Held Back
"Some hip-hop groups release their most popular and best album the first time out. That was just one convention Public Enemy refused to follow. Released on April 14, 1988, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back was PE’s second album. The title was drawn from a line in one of their debut album’s songs, but the group’s sophomore effort blew its predecessor away with its sheer power. That’s saying something, because Yo! Bum Rush The Show was a killer record in its own right. If they’d released only Yo!, Public Enemy would have remained hip-hop cult heroes. But It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back made Public Enemy legends, cultural icons, and representatives of the cutting-edge of Black music. ...”
2009 May: Public Enemy, 2011 July: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, 2012 February: Fear of a Black Planet, 2012 August: Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black, 2012 December: A Dozen Pivotal Moments in the 30 Year Career of Public Enemy, 2014 June: "Prophets of Rage" (2011), 2015 February: The Noise And How To Bring It: Hank Shocklee Interviewed, 2015 May: Give it up (1994), 2015 September: Shut'em Down (1991), 2018 June: White Heat Can’t Melt Black Steel: Public Enemy's Nation Of Millions Revisited
Moscow drone attack: Putin says Ukraine trying to frighten Russians
"Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded to Tuesday's drone attacks on the capital Moscow, accusing Ukraine of trying to frighten Russians. He said civilians were targeted, but air defences dealt satisfactorily with the threat.The defence ministry said at least eight drones caused minor damage, but Kyiv has denied responsibility. This is the first time the city has been targeted by multiple drones since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said no-one was seriously injured. Several drones fell on an exclusive western suburb where senior officials live. Speaking on Russian TV, Mr Putin said the attack had been a response to what he described as a Russian attack on Ukraine's military intelligence HQ in recent days. The BBC is unable to independently verify whether any such attack took place. ...”
Club Ebony, a Historic Blues Venue Tied to B.B. King, Rises Again
"Club Ebony, a famed blues venue in Indianola, Miss., that was part of the chitlin circuit — a loose network of Black-owned clubs and venues in segregated American cities — has hosted hundreds of memorable moments. Bobby Rush, the 89-year-old blues singer, recalled one of his favorites in a recent interview: a scene from B.B. King’s 2014 homecoming concert. ... The audience cackled, and Rush joined King onstage with his harmonica to cap his friend’s final performance there, ending a tradition of annual concerts that began in 1980. ...”
From posh residences to art movie theater, the many lives of two Bleecker Street houses
"Near the corner of Bleecker Street and LaGuardia Place stand what remains of two houses. At almost 200 years old, time has taken its toll on these twin Greenwich Village dowagers. Cracked ground-floor doric columns, grimy window lintels, and a strange fourth four addition have dulled the beauty of 144 and 146 Bleecker Street. But a closer look reveals bits of loveliness, like the rosettes in terra cotta panels and Flemish bond brickwork.The story of these houses—combined into one building over a century ago and officially known as 144 Bleecker—mimics the story of the Greenwich Village neighborhood they’re part of. ...”
Battle of Brunete
"The Battle of Brunete (6–25 July 1937), fought 24 kilometres (15 mi) west of Madrid, was a Republican attempt to alleviate the pressure exerted by the Nationalists on the capital and on the north during the Spanish Civil War. Although initially successful, the Republicans were forced to retreat from Brunete after Nationalist counterattacks, and suffered devastating casualties from the battle. After the capture of Bilbao on June 19, the Republicans devised the attack on Brunete to divert Nationalist forces from the north and allow the fleeing Republicans time to reorganize. ...”
W - Bombing of Guernica, Death, destruction and deity: painting Guernica, The lost images of anarchist Barcelona, W - Guernica (Picasso)
W - Torkild_Rieber, salon - The oil man and his dictators: Benito Mussolini, Francisco Franco and the forgotten fascist history of Texaco (Adam Hochschild)
W - Hotel Florida (Madrid), NY Times: For Whom the Bell Tolled, amazon: Hotel Florida: Truth, Love, and Death in the Spanish Civil War
YouTube: The Spanish Civil War 6/6; How Did The Spanish Civil War Begin?, Reflecting On 500,000 Casualties Of War, How Stalin Was Inserted Into Spanish Conflict, The Meteoric Rise Of General Franco, How A Spanish Civil War Led To War With France, A History Of The Battle Of The River Of Ebro
YouTube: Ernest Hemingway on Fascism and the Spanish Civil War | PBS, George Steer report on the bombing of Gernika, Guernica, Ernest Hemingway: The Spanish Earth (1937) 53:56
Republican soldiers inside the Governor's Palace, the last bastion of the Fascist resistance. Earlier that day the Republicans had detonated mines powerful enough to blow away an entire wall. Photo Robert Capa
Kyiv hit by massive Russian drone attack as city marks its founding
"Ahead of the anniversary of its founding in 482 A.D., Kyiv suffered the largest drone attack since the start of the war with Russia, Ukrainian officials said Sunday.Ukraine’s air force said in a statement on Telegram that a ‘record number’ of 54 Russia-launched, Iranian-made ‘Shahed’ drones were launched at the city overnight, although it added that it had shot down 52 of them. NBC News was not able to independently verify these figures. The attack was primarily directed at military facilities and critical infrastructure in the center of Ukraine, including Kyiv, the statement said. ... Shahed drones are self-detonating aerial weapons in which the munition can loiter over a target until instructed to attack, destroying the weapon in the process. Iran is believed to have sent hundreds of these weapons to Russia since the beginning of its invasion last February. ...”
An aerial view showing destruction in the front-line city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, on May 23, 2023.
Blood On His Hands: Henry Kissinger
"TA SOUS, Cambodia — At the end of a dusty path snaking through rice paddies lives a woman who survived multiple U.S. airstrikes as a child. Round-faced and just over 5 feet tall in plastic sandals, Meas Lorn lost an older brother to a helicopter gunship attack and an uncle and cousins to artillery fire. For decades, one question haunted her: ‘I still wonder why those aircraft always attacked in this area. Why did they drop bombs here?’ The U.S. carpet bombing of Cambodia between 1969 and 1973 has been well documented, but its architect, former national security adviser and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who will turn 100 on Saturday, bears responsibility for more violence than has been previously reported. An investigation by The Intercept provides evidence of previously unreported attacks that killed or wounded hundreds of Cambodian civilians during Kissinger’s tenure in the White House. ...”
What Makes a Garden a Work of Art? Piet Oudolf Explains.
"There is a transcendent quality to the gardens of the Dutch designer Piet Oudolf, which overtake us with the sense that we have arrived at a place where we would like — and very much need — to spend more time. Drawn into the complex textural mosaic of muted colors, we can exhale. ... And yet, Mr. Oudolf is quick to point out, his work is the art and craft of garden making. It is not ecological landscape restoration. His medium is naturalistic, yes, but it is not nature. ...”
In his gardens, the Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf creates complex textural mosaics of muted colors. This one is at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, an international art gallery in South West England.
What Does Russia’s Success in Bakhmut Mean for the War in Ukraine?
"Russia has declared victory in its devastating, nearly yearlong assault on Bakhmut, and its Wagner mercenaries have begun to withdraw. Ukraine, whose forces have made small gains on the outskirts, has signaled that it is now focused on making it difficult for Moscow to hold onto the city. Whatever comes next, Ukraine’s setback in Bakhmut is a significant moment in Russia’s invasion, its first military success since last summer. Ukraine says a small number of its soldiers are still in the eastern city, but Kyiv has all but conceded that the intense and bloody defense of the city is over. ...”
Best Live Albums: 50 Must-Hear Classic Records
"The best live albums capture the very essence of a band’s energy in concert and manage to make a listener feel like they were actually there for what, in many cases, are historic performances. Because it’s one thing creating magic in the studio. Doing it live is something else, adding a whole new level of excitement (and, often, creativity) to the music. Here are just a few of the best live albums ever put to tape. ...”
Seeing Beyond the Beauty of a Vermeer
"The afternoon I discovered Vermeer, I was passing time by browsing the books and publications piled up on the shelves at home in Lagos. I was 14 or 15. Amid the relics of my parents’ college studies (Nigerian plays, French histories, business-management textbooks), I found something unfamiliar: the annual report for a multinational company. I don’t remember which company it was, but it must have had something to do with food or drink, because on the front cover was a painting of peasants in a rolling field and on the back was a painting of a woman pouring milk. ...”
2009 September: Vermeer's Masterpiece, The Milkmaid, 2011 February: Vermeer: Master of Light, 2013 October: Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Hals: Masterpieces of Dutch Painting from the Mauritshuis, 2015 December: This Is Not a Vermeer ™, 2017 January: The Art of Painting (1665–1668), 2021 December: Museum rivalry ‘could make Dutch Vermeer show last of its kind’, 2021 December: Okay Cupid: Reopening Vermeer’s love letter to contradiction, 2022 October: A New Brushstroke Analysis Reveals Vermeer...
Detail of “A Lady Writing.”
The Battle for Bakhmut, in Photos
"Even for those who witnessed the battle for Bakhmut, the longest and likely the deadliest clash of the war in Ukraine, words often failed. Soldiers who fought in the shell-racked city strained to articulate the carnage. The reek of the trenches around the city and the unceasing howl of shellfire, they said, recalled the Battle of Verdun in 1916, which lasted 300 days and was one of the bloodiest of World War I. By the time the Russians declared ‘victory’ on Saturday, relentless bombardment had turned former shops and homes to charred ruins. As Ukraine shifted focus to the fighting on the outskirts, President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that the city was gone, saying ‘Bakhmut is only in our hearts.’ It was an arc of destruction captured by photographers from The New York Times over the past year. ...”
Ukrainian soldiers riding on an armored vehicle in Bakhmut in November.
The Playoffs: A Dispatch
"These years, the only basketball I watch is the playoffs, but I take them very seriously, because they’re so fleeting, dramatic, and sublime. I love the ever-changing narratives. The pregame handshakes. The postgame interviews. The controversial tweets. The stupid commercials one can’t help but memorize. I love when a player ‘gets hot’ and their teammates keep funneling them the ball. The rarely seen, silent green siren that flashes when a coach uses their challenge to dispute a call. The sudden announcement of a technical foul and the way the mood shifts during the single, solitary free throw. I love catching glimpses of the players’ tattoos of babies, ancestors, dates, signatures, playing cards, angels, lions, phantoms, and crosses emitting sunbeams. ...”
Rachel B. Glaser, Ref Huddle, 2023.
Turn The Heat Up - Shemekia Copeland (1998)
"The daughter of the late bluesman Johnny Copeland steps up to the plate with this, her debut album for the Alligator imprint. Although only 19 at the time of this recording, Copeland comes to this album with a mature style and vast amounts of assuredness. While comparisons to Koko Taylor and Etta James will be plentiful, Shemekia has enough tricks up her sleeve to make this a disc well worth checking out. Eight of the 14 tunes aboard are co-written by producer John Hahn and strong musical support is summoned up from guitarist Jimmy Vivino, with guest turns from Joe Louis Walker and ‘Monster’ Mike Welch, while the Uptown Horns show up on three tunes, including the title track. ...”
The longest battle of the Ukraine war might finally be over
"Russia has claimed control of Bakhmut, a city at the center of one of the most prolonged and brutal battles of the Ukraine war. Moscow is declaring it a major victory, but it is one that comes at an astounding cost. And exactly what the city’s capture means for the future course of the conflict is far less clear. Bakhmut holds limited strategic value, though the approximately nine-month-long battle took on political and rhetorical significance for both sides. It also imposed real losses, as the battle for control of the city mutually attrited Russian and Ukrainian forces and firepower. Over the weekend, Russia’s Ministry of Defense announced that Russia had finally taken Bakhmut, and Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated the ’liberation’ of the city. Both credited the Wagner Group, the paramilitary group tied to the increasingly vocal oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, for its role in the operation. ...”
***NY Times*** - Bakhmut Is Gone: An Aerial Look at the War’s Destruction
****NY Times **** - Why Bakhmut? It’s a Question as Old as War.
NBC News: Russian forces claim full control of Bakhmut, ending brutal battle that became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance (Video)
Drone footage taken by The New York Times captured the scorched buildings, destroyed schools and cratered parks that now define the city in eastern Ukraine.
The stories behind 4 holdout buildings that refused to bow to the wrecking ball
"It’s hard not to cheer on a New York City holdout building. You know holdouts: smaller walkup buildings, usually one-time residences, that somehow managed to remain intact over the past century or so in a city filled with developers who would love to get their hands on them—or at least the land they occupy.Some holdouts are in beautiful shape, a testament to former and current owners who had the means and the will to maintain their original loveliness. This French Renaissance-style holdout, at 612 West 116th Street, began its life in 1906 as the Delta Phi fraternity house for the Columbia University chapter, according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission report for the Morningside Heights Historic District. ...”
The Portable Nietzsche
"The works of Friedrich Nietzsche have fascinated readers around the world ever since the publication of his first book more than a hundred years ago. As Walter Kaufmann, one of the world's leading authorities on Nietzsche, notes in his introduction, ‘Few writers in any age were so full of ideas,’ and few writers have been so consistently misinterpreted. The Portable Nietzsche includes Kaufmann's definitive translations of the complete and unabridged texts of Nietzsche's four major works: Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist, Nietzsche Contra Wagner and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In addition, Kaufmann brings together selections from his other books, notes, and letters, to give a full picture of Nietzsche's development, versatility, and inexhaustibility.”
2016 April: Anarchism and Friedrich Nietzsche, 2021 February: Walter Kaufmann’s Classic Lectures on Nietzsche, Kierkegaard and Sartre (1960)
How Russia is creeping back into football Tifo Football
"Since Russia invaded Ukraine, firstly in 2014, but in far greater and deadlier numbers on February 24th 2022 the country has been isolated politically, economically and culturally. And Russia has been suspended from UEFA and FIFA. But they want to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. How could they do that? Would they have to move federations? Well, it has been done before. James Montague explains. Philippe Fenner illustrates.“
Illustration by El Lissitzky (1890-1941) from USSR Builds Socialism, 1933.
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