ArtwordBlog

Category: Politics

  • Word spaghetti

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    Ronald Weihs

    I first noticed it about 15 years ago, when we first moved to Hamilton. Someone talking and talking without ever finishing. I said to Judith, “That guy, he can’t stop talking.” I thought it was just that particular guy. Then I noticed it more and more. I thought it was a Hamilton phenomenon. “Hey Jude,…

  • The Pardoner and his Tale, Jan 19 2021

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    Judith Sandiford

    Today (January 19, 2021) everyone in the U.S. is busy guessing who will be on the pardon-list of that outgoing guy. The official list will be documented here: https://www.justice.gov/pardon/pardons-granted-president-donald-trump#Jan202021 Meanwhile, let’s find out how a person who Pardons does it. Geoffrey Chaucer’s character The Pardoner, and his tale in The Canterbury Tales (1387) come to…

  • Noguchi sculpture appears in the Rose Garden, Episode #2

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    Judith Sandiford

    How your intrepid blogger discovers new answers to her puzzles about the Noguchi sculpture … on Dec. 1 Timothy Harleth and Nikki Pisha in the Rose Garden. On Dec 1, 2020 at 10:00 am, the White House Historical Association host an online two-panel symposium on “The History of Diverse Artists in the White House Collection”.Between…

  • Noguchi sculpture appears in the Rose Garden, Episode #1

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    Judith Sandiford

    How a surprising news story in the US leads us to a Noguchi sculpture, a White House puzzle, and an unexpected update a week later … Breaking News, Friday Nov 20, 2020 “First Lady Melania Trump is pleased to announce the installation of Floor Frame (1962), by Isamu Noguchi (1904-88). The sculpture will be located…

  • East Enders vs the Republic of China

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    Judith Sandiford

    How a small news story about East-Enders and the Chinese Embassy takes us on a big ride through family history, via the Battle of Cable Street and the mural … Ron’s late mum Alice Weihs was an honourary East-Ender. She was dubbed “Ellis the Ken-eye-dian” (cockney accent). She went off to London UK on her…

  • Limits to Common Sense

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    Ronald Weihs

    Today’s Hamilton Spectator (September 31, 2019) has an opinion piece by Matthew Lau in praise of economist Milton Friedman, founder of the “Chicago School” espousing the virtues of unrestrained free market capitalism. He cites two of Friedman’s ideas, which he treats as obvious: “nobody spends somebody else’s money as carefully as he spends his own.”…