O/T Interesting and worthwhile essays

These can be about life, culture and the times we live in. Rather than bury them in the US Presidential election or Oz politics thread I decided to create a new topic. I have been going through a spate of on line reading and found a number of interesting pieces.

HERE is one such article written by a journo reflecting on the death of two men and an injured third who intervened on a train when a white supremacist was abusing a young African American woman and a young Muslim woman. Well worth a read.

Will try and find another article based on an interview with a Republican Senator who has written a history about Lincoln.

HERE is the second. Ben Sasse is a conservative and highly erudite Senator reflecting on the world we live in, our diminishing attention spans in this era of social media and Lincoln (among other pollies from that era). Qmy3, in particular may enjoy it.

The first essay is well argued ... but the words of the (survivor) poet and (dying) younger man are even more potent, IMO.

Horie the link to essay 2 leads to the same as the Portland knifing news story for me.

furriner wrote:Horie the link to essay 2 leads to the same as the Portland knifing news story for me.

Sorry Furri (construct another effigy for me!)

Try this. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/30/ben-sasse-trump-off-message-238924

Senator Sasse is that rarity - an intelligent, sensible and decent Tory.

Here is an interesting essay post the Charlottesville events which inter alia compares the University town with the South African University town of Stellenbosch. 


Both are genteel, liberal towns initially built by African blacks for the privilege of whites. (African American slaves, some 'owned' by Jefferson in the case of the Uni of Va)


Here is the link


Both Unis and towns are associated with many famous figures eg Thomas Jefferson initiated the University of Va.  One of the grads of the University of  Stellenbosch was Verwoerd, one of the architects of apartheid. 


The article makes the point that post apartheid and post abolition of slavery the benefits continue to accrue to whites.


While not mentioned or discussed a similar case can be made for Australia.


Well worth a read.

I admit to an unhealthy obsession with Trump. Along with many others I think of him as a psychopath. But should that disqualify him from office or provide grounds for removal. No in my view. 

Here is an interesting article by two US psychiatrists.

link

This is an interesting piece on photos taken by J M Coetzee when he was a teenager.  Clearly an extremely talented man, albeit a little self absorbed, both with words and images. One of the photos is of a fellow student cricketer.

link

nice one

Tony Schwartz wrote "the Art of the Deal" for Trump thirty years ago. To put it mildly he is not a fan of the sTrumpet. The following article I found to offer insight not to so much into Trump but more the human condition. Well worth a read.

link

saved - another nice one

Some good ones here, from a casual net search.

http://rafalreyzer.com/40-best-essays-of-all-time/

I'd quite forgotten about George Orwell's amazing talents as an essay writer.

Thanks Furri. Much to contemplate.

great link - thanks

I apologise for being unable to post the link. There is an interesting essay in the Guardian Online (Oz edition) about the reef,coal, the economy and how to extent Townsville is a microcosm of Australian life and future.

The author grew up in Townsville.

Whatever you think about climate change, coal etc it is an interesting piece. For several years I have thought Qld now represents the dominant hegemony over Oz politics and culture. Places like Victoria, or more particularly its capital are remote outliers in the national discourse.

Queensland in particular relies for news and analysis on one monopoly foreign owned supplier.

The boom bust resources cycle has made many folk highly vulnerable, as well as the reef. By fanning racist sentiment, the llr set in train the process that created the misery of 'one nation', which extends beyond that party to dominate the way all political parties view their prospects of electoral success.

The manner in which gutter crawlers like Shortpants parse migration, the economy, nationalism is a simple hairs width from Dutton.

Anyways enough of me, read the article if you wish.

I think you are unnecessarily pessimistic about the nation and its inhabitants.

To suggest that Melbourne has a (marginalised) monopoly on liberal and progressive thinking whilst Queensland is full of unthinking reactionary rednecks kowtowing at the feet of Pauline Hanson is to pose two hyperbolic stereotypes, neither of which remotely resembles the truth.

Nice wind-up though!

Not a wind up. I am not talking absolutes but tendencies. Of course there are folk here who vote No Notion and QBillies with progressive views. However the Chippies in my view at least are closer to and lead the national norms.

I thought the article was well written and reasoned.

Hi, here is a Boxing Day Present.

Axios

Axios is a useful site providing a summary of key issues in Seppo Land. I think both Skully (a died in the wool Tory tho in US terms an anti Trumpanista) and me (a very ancient Marxist - Leninist) can find common interest in this site.

* May not work for Nigel. It is not a white is right or porn site.

I was trundling through the NYTimes on line this morning and found this little article. 

The author reflects on Chinese restaurants being open on xmas day in the US. There are some terrific observations of life.

So here you go:

chop suey xmas

Axios is a really neat little news site. It has interesting snappy business, tech and political news. When it ventures into human behaviour it is often interesting.

Here is one I found today. Turns out it is a continuation of a series of articles on on-line dating behaviours.

LINK

It contains a bit of data suggessting that close to 40% of of heterosexual relationships are formed via the Net. Much more for same sex relationships. Remarkable!  

As a sidelight there is a terrific episode on Dark Mirror about IT assisted dating. Oddly enough I found it remarkable for its romanticism. 

Oddly too, I have just past the 8th anniversary of the passing of a once dear friend who was the first person I knew to marry someone she met via the Net (typical of her, she met her Canadian winemaker in the 90s!)

Here is a sobering article about violent crime and policing in Baltimore, Maryland. It tracks different policies and their impact on the police and communities they service.

It is a well written exploration of what are often intractable problems. 

[url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/magazine/baltimore-tragedy-crime.html?action=click&module=Top stories&pgtype=Homepage]LINK[/url]

I am sure all of us are grateful for the improvements in provision of clean water, nutrition and particularly the advances of modern medicine.

Wealthy economies have benefitted and even the poorest people in poor countries benefit from advances in modern medicine.

Here is a small article about wing nut middle class Americans who refuse measles shots for their kids. There have been any number of similar articles about middle class anti-vaxxers in Australia.

LINK

Measles had just about been eradicated in wealthy countries. Instead, incidence is on the rise. 

Personally I think a very hard line should be taken against anti-vaxxers, who jeopardise the health of their children and other people.

Refusal to vaccinate one's child for me is both child abuse and threatening the health of others. The full force of law should be applied. Children denied vaccinations should be taken into care and vaccinated by the State.

Elliot edited a great book of essays so many applicable to our times. You'd need to search for a hard copy, though maybe not for our forum techos

Well worth a look though. One of the few modernists I can stand.

which Eliot?

horace wrote:which Eliot?

Ness.