Other Voices · November 9, 2024 |
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting
to improve the world.”
― Anne Frank
“I’ve found that there is always some beauty left ― in nature, sunshine,
freedom, in yourself; these can all help you.”
― Anne Frank
It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem
so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of
everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
― Anne Frank
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Music inspires child who lost hand in Israeli attack |
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Muhammad Abu Aida, 14, and his mother, Muna, had hoped they had found some measure of
safety in the Nuseirat refugee camp, even though the sounds of explosions resonate constantly
and feelings of fear permeate every corner. But the UN school at which they had sought shelter
eventually proved to provide no protection. On 16 July, ten months after they were forcibly
displaced from their home, Israeli warplanes bombed the school that had become their haven.
The attack killed 23 people, and wounded more than 70, including Muhammad, whose right hand
had to be amputated. Read more.
Keywords: Children/Violence - Musicians |
The Children Are Always Ours, Every Single One of Them |
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Saqib Bhatti laments the unbearable task of parenting during genocide – from the United States
to Gaza. “What sets this genocide apart from others,” he writes, “is that we are seeing the
brutality of it as it is happening.”
He recalls what James Baldwin wrote: “The children are always ours, every single one of them,
all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this
may be incapable of morality.” Read more.
Keywords: Gaza - Genocide |
The Politics of Cultural Despair |
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In the end, Chris Hedges write, the American election “was about despair. Despair over futures
that evaporated with deindustrialization. Despair over the loss of 30 million jobs in mass layoffs.
Despair over austerity programs and the funneling of wealth upwards into the hands of rapacious
oligarchs. Despair over a liberal class that refuses to acknowledge the suffering it orchestrated
under neoliberalism or embrace New Deal type programs that will ameliorate this suffering.
Despair over the futile, endless wars, as well as the genocide in Gaza, where generals and
politicians are never held accountable. Despair over a democratic system that has been seized
by corporate and oligarchic power.” Read more.
Keywords: U.S. Politics - Politics & Government |
Cringeworthy Words in the Battle of Ideas |
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Greg Godels calls for a search for clarity and logic in political discussion. The war of ideas, he
says, can often become a war of words or phrases. He says that it is important to call out words
or expressions that mislead, distort, or poison our discourse, a process that is “not the same as
the language-policing so popular with liberals. It is not an excuse for shaming, embarrassing, or
demeaning people because they are ignorant or dismissive of liberal etiquette.” Read more.
Keywords: Clichés - Jargon |
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Poetry from Gaza: Tears blur my eyes / but your smile is clear / like a field of wheat.
Read more. |
Coldtype is a free monthly online magazine. Editor Tony Sutton says that its mission is “to reprint
examples of excellent writing from around the world in a format that emphasizes how a neat and
unobtrusive design can enhance, without subsuming, the power of The Word. That’s the mission,
but the point is much simpler: Great writing should be available to as many people as possible –
and preferably free of charge.”
The November 2024 issue features “Text me if you haven’t died,” an article by Ramzy Baroud
about how his sister came to be the 166 th doctor to be murdered by the Israeli Defence Force in
Gaza. David Cromwell of MediaLens writes about “The complicity of the mainstream media: Part
of the mechanism of genocide in Gaza.” Find Coldtype here.
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An online investigative news magazine which publishes news and views, and asks questions, that
the mainstream media won’t touch. Recent articles examine the future of the Palestine liberation
struggle and of American politics, and asks ‘What if voting is fruitless?’ Find them here. |
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Rosa Luxemburg: The Incendiary Spark |
Essays by Michael Löwy
Löwy’s essays illuminate the heroic, tough-minded idealist and martyr, Rosa Luxemburg. Active
in the labour and socialist movements of Germany, Poland, and Russia, Luxemburg had
international standing as an original and sharp-minded theorist during her life and remains one of
the most admired and studied revolutionaries in the Marxist tradition. Read more.
Keywords: Rosa Luxemburg - Revolutionary Politics |
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Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of Salt of the Earth |
In many ways, 1954's Salt of the Earth is a singular, cinematic phenomenon, one of the most
unique American movies ever made. At a time when star-driven Hollywood was cranking out
widescreen biblical epics, technicolor musicals, sci-fi and horror B pictures for drive-ins,
Westerns, comedies, as well as films starring highly trained "Method" actors, Salt featured a largely nonprofessional cast in a story about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. These non-actors played versions of themselves – miners who had struggled in a recent, real-life strike. Find out more. Keywords: Film History - Worker's History |
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Copyright Connexions 2024. Contents are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License. This means you are welcome to share and republish the contents of this newsletter as long as you credit Connexions, and as long as you don’t charge for the content. This issue was edited by Ulli Diemer. |
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