Pope Leo XIV has positioned himself as the most political pope in many years. The consequences are being felt in Israel and the territories as well Nettanel Slyomovics Last Sunday, exactly one week after Easter, the U.S. president took to social media to launch an attack on the pope. Donald Trump declared that Leo XIV… Read More After Clash With Trump, Pope Leo Sets New Goal: To Stop Settler Violence
By Katrin Bennhold He has inspired MAGA culture warriors in America and nationalist populists in Europe. But after 16 years in power, Viktor Orban conceded defeat. The main reason was the abysmal state of the Hungarian economy. Once the darling of foreign investors after the Cold War, Hungary is now one of the poorest countries in… Read More Orban and the populist paradox
NB: Our sympathy for the Iranian people suffering from Israeli-American imperialist attacks cannot blind us to the fact that the ruling establishment of Iran is a brutal theocratic tyranny. DS The health of jailed Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi is critical after she suffered a heart attack last month, supporters said on Wednesday.… Read More Jailed Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi in critical condition, supporters say
Bamenda — Pope Leo warned that the world is being ravaged by “tyrants,” in forceful comments made after US President Donald Trump attacked the pontiff for his stance on the war with Iran. Leo has emerged as strong critic of the conflict and his speech again preached a message of peace and rebuked leaders using religious language… Read More Pope warns of world ravaged by ‘tyrants’ in the wake of Trump attacks
By Maria Popova “Day by day I am approaching the goal which I apprehend but cannot describe,” Ludwig van Beethoven (December 16, 1770–March 26, 1827) wrote to his boyhood friend, rallying his own resilience as he began losing his hearing. A year later, shortly after completing his Second Symphony, he sent his brothers a stunning letter about the joy of suffering… Read More Trial, Triumph, and the Art of the Possible: The Remarkable Story Behind Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’
There is only person who is really battling for the soul of the nation. He chose the name Leo for a reason: Saint Leo stood up for laborers, and this Leo has shown a similar instinct, from his missionary work in Peru to his criticisms of immigration crackdowns Pope says ‘enough of war’ and decries ‘delusion… Read More The Real American War Is Between Trump and This Holy Warrior / Pope says ‘enough of war’ and decries ‘delusion of omnipotence’ at peace vigil
NB: Our RSS/BJP rulers, who trumpet their greatness to the whole world, who have given us a VishwaGuru leader; do not want us to hear the last voice of a six year old Palestinian girl, pleading for help, murdered by a genocidal regime to which they have now come to owe allegiance. By so doing,… Read More Filmmakers, Activists, Israelis, Indians Condemn ‘Unlawful’ Ban on ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’
Arthur Hugh Clough (1819 – 1861) Margaret Drabble on “Say not the struggle naught availeth” This poem by Arthur Hugh Clough unfailingly brings tears to my eyes. It speaks of hope, and effort, and disappointment, and per- severance. As I read it, it is a poem about social hope, about hope for humanity. Most of… Read More Say Not the Struggle Nought Availeth
Bertold Brecht (1898-1956) I came into the cities in a time of disorderAs hunger reigned.I came among men in a time of turmoilAnd I rose up with them.And so passedThe time given to me on earth. I ate my food between slaughters.I lay down to sleep among murderers.I tended to love with abandon.I looked upon… Read More Bertold Brecht: To Posterity (1938) / Pablo Neruda: Nuevo Canto de Amor a Stalingrado (1942) / Victory: Ilya Ehrenburg, 9 May 1945
Ron Srigley Universities, in the interest of increasing enrollments (= money), are willing to flatter you and your children so shamelessly … “During one class a couple of years ago, I dimmed the lights in order to show a clip of an interview. The moment the lights went down I saw dozens and dozens of… Read More Dear Parents: Everything You Need to Know About Your Son and Daughter’s University But Don’t
After the truth-shower 