Weekly Reads, Poetry, and Art for 27 March 2015
In this week’s tour of the world, we’ve got a poem by cummings, a painting by Gaguin, and news about war and the $20 bill. And some other delightful things.
Articles of the Week
How Hard Would It Be to Change the $20? – “However, the problem was never going to be complaints about keeping Jackson on the $20; it was always going to be about narrowing the entire universe of eligible women to put on the bill to one in a town where agreeing is often a laughable dream, and everyone has different reasons for wanting to try something new with currency — or keep it the same.” NYMag
A Bewildering Crash – – “The horror. It’s all there in the sound of Lubitz breathing. The wind of life, the wind of death. That steady soughing tells us all that we know so far, and all that we don’t yet—and may never—know, about this atrocity, the deadliest aviation catastrophe in France in more than three decades. Just as the brevity of the flight, and the apparent spontaneity of the captain’s decision to leave the cockpit—to stretch a leg? or take a piss? or have a chat? “ The New Yorker
Red, White, and True – “On paper, I didn’t need to spend much time studying. Since moving to Canada a decade ago, I have visited every province and one of the three territories; I have travelled the country by road, by air, by rail, by sea. I work for a magazine about Canada and its place in the world. Besides, CIC assures applicants that a single document—the glossy sixty-four page “Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship”—contains all of the information a newcomer needs to pass the twenty-question test.” The Walrus
Bowe Bergdahl: Whistleblower? – “Bowe Bergdahl intended to report alleged wrongdoing committed in his unit at a different Army outpost when he disappeared in 2009, two defense officials familiar with an internal report on his case told CNN. Bergdahl, who was kidnapped and held prisoner by the Taliban for five years when he left his unit, has officially been charged with desertion and “misbehavior before the enemy” and faces life imprisonment. His claims about his intentions could be part of his defense. “ Slate
What Do We See in War Movies? | – “Every war film faces an innate cinematic challenge: its subject exists in direct opposition to its form. War destroys; art creates. To show war on film, then—to create even the representation of war—seems, in the abstract, to be an almost oxymoronic concept: if war is an atrocity, the nadir of civilization, and movies are meant to entertain, then what entertainment is there to be found in war?” Hazlitt
Disarm and Modernize | – “Nonetheless, under current plans, approximately 480 B61-12s are set to be produced by the mid-2020s, and they would serve all U.S. gravity-bomb missions contemplated for five different aircraft. In addition to deployment in Europe, the U.S. Air Force also intends to use the B61-12 to arm heavy B-2 and B-52 bombers based in America. Even by the standards of defense budgets, the B61 modernization program is exorbitant: Estimates place its ultimate cost north of $10 billion, or more than if the bombs were constructed of solid gold.” Foreign Policy
Sentence of the Week
“The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts.” –Oliver Wendell Holmes
Poem of the Week
The poem this week, an excellent choice for spring break, comes to us from e.e. cummings
Art Work of the Week
“The Painter of Sunflowers” is a portrait of Vincent van Gogh by Paul Gauguin in December 1888. The portrait was painted when Gauguin visited in Arles. Van Gogh had asked him to come to Arles, because he wanted to start an art-colony there. Gauguin however only stayed for two months, because the painters argued.
