The contemporary Western image of Somalia was forged in 1993, when American special forces and U.S. Army Rangers fought an overnight battle in Mogadishu with the militia of General Mohamed Farrah Aidid, resulting in the loss of 18 American soldiers and the wounding of 73 more, and the deaths of up to 700 Somali militiamen [...]
Archive for December, 2008
A land of bards
Posted in Foreign affairs, History, Literature, tagged al-Hasan, gabay, Margaret Laurence, Richard Francis Burton, somali poetry, somalia on December 28, 2008 | 13 Comments »
The Ignatieff Revolution
Posted in Canadian politics, tagged Ignatieff, Rights Revolution on December 13, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Ignatieff at the November 2006 Liberal leadership convention (credit: Simon Hayter, Getty Images).
On the occasion of Michael Ignatieff’s ascension to the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada, I thought I would repost a review I wrote in 2000 of The Rights Revolution. Ignatieff and his party inevitably divide people, and my own faith in [...]
To Lawren Harris, from Wang Hui
Posted in Arts and Aesthetics, Asia, History, Japan, tagged bunjin-ga, Franklin Carmichael, Group of Seven, landscapes, Lawren Harris, literati painting, ukiyo-e, Wang Hui on December 4, 2008 | 5 Comments »
It sold for nearly $2.1 million dollars, that little oil painting shown above. Only 12 by 15 inches, the work came to the art world’s attention a few months ago, when a Vancouver woman decided to have her collection appraised. The painting by Group of Seven founder Lawren Harris had been given to the woman’s [...]
Bush’s Legacy
Posted in U.S. Politics, tagged George W. Bush, presidential legacy on December 2, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Over at the National Post, I try to assess Bush’s legacy. The full article can be read here.
Some excerpts:
The wreckage that Bush has left is there for all to see, so much so that even erstwhile supporters like David Frum, who wrote some of Bush’s most memorable speeches, acknowledge that this has been a “failed [...]
Happy Belated Birthday, Claude Levi-Strauss!
Posted in Philosophy, tagged Claude Levi-Strauss, Guy Davenport on December 1, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Claude Lévi-Strauss, just celebrating his centenary.
This blog has been amiss in not wishing a happy birthday to Claude Lévi-Strauss, who was born on November 28, 1908. Theodore Roosevelt was in the White House when Lévi-Strauss entered this world and he’s lived to see Obama elected.
