ARTS

Journalism vs The Soviet Lie: Gareth Jones vs. Walter Duranty

Welsh journalist Gareth Jones stood for truth. New York Times reporter Walter Duranty stood for lies. Duranty received the Pulitzer Prize. Jones was brutally murdered by the Soviets.

The Power of Observation: From Art to Literature to Life

One of the great joys of the present school year has been the addition of an art appreciation class, taught by art enthusiast and VanDamme Academy teacher Luc Travers. Mr. Travers' unique approach to analyzing a work of art has transformed my esthetic life, enhancing...

Mao: The Unknown Story

I just finished reading: Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, Knopf, 2005. I do not necessarily recommend this book--not because it is bad--but because the content is so disgusting (though factual). Mao is clearly the worst monster in world history....

‘Crash’ Wins ‘Best Picture’

So Crash, one of the most philosophically objectionable movies that I've seen in a long time, won yesterday's coveted Academy Award for "Best Picture." Crash has two major themes: everyone is a racist, doesn't know it, and no one is a hero, even if they perform heroic...

Thank You, Harry Potter!

With a long-term war in progress and threats of further terrorist attacks on American soil, is it mere escapism to go to movies such as Harry Potter? Not at all; such movies provide something just as essential to winning a war as weapons and soldiers. Harry Potter...

The McWilliams Special, Part 3 of 3

Just how McWilliams felt we had no means of knowing; but we knew our hearts would not beat freely until his infernal Special should slide safely over the last of the 266 miles which still lay between the distressed man and his unfortunate child. From McCloud to...

The McWilliams Special, Part 2 of 3

On the West End we had all night to prepare, and at five o'clock next morning every man in the operating department was on edge. At precisely 3.58 A.M. the McWilliams Special stuck its nose into our division, and Foley-pulled off No. 1 with the 466 -- was heading her...

The McWilliams Special, Part 1 of 3

It belongs to the Stories That Never Were Told, this of the McWilliams Special. But it happened years ago, and for that matter McWilliams is dead. It wasn't grief that killed him, either; though at one time his grief came uncommonly near killing us. It is an odd sort...

When Hollywood Went to War

Once upon a time there was a vicious attack on America — an act of war — and Hollywood’s biggest stars had plenty to say — and do — about it. With the war in Iraq practically over and Hollywood liberals making themselves scarce, it’s time to put Hollywood and war in perspective.

Heart of a Pagan, Chapter 2: The Coming

Excerpted from Andrew Bernstein's Heart of a Pagan: The Story of Swoop. Chapter 2: The Coming "Hoppo to the heights now!" Swoop roared that afternoon when he walked into our locker room for the first time. He swaggered through the door and slung his purple gym bag to...

Hollywood’s War on Moralism

Is it possible to take a moral inventory of our culture -- to see, in a single event, what, if anything, the most influential parts of our culture hold as the good? There is an important forum in which we take such an inventory every year at this time -- and broadcast...

Justice for Elia Kazan

Hollywood director Elia Kazan -- famous during the 1950s for "On the Waterfront," "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "East of Eden" -- will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award during the Academy Awards (March 21, 1999). The unanimous decision by the Academy of Motion...

The Nerve of Foley, Part 2

When I walked into the round-house in the evening, with a pair of overalls on, Foley was in the cab getting ready for the run.Neighbor brought the Flyer in from the East. As soon as he had uncoupled and got out of the way we backed down with the 448. It was the best...

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