Monthly Archives: December 2019
A Few Love Duets and a Jazz Encore
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th December 2019The days are short; accordingly there’s a lot of darkness around. So, I thought I might brighten things up a bit with a few love duets. Of course, the best of these duets portray characters who typically don’t survive the opera’s end. But they are lovely and make us forget that they lead to death….
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A Christmas Message
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th December 2019You may think the title of this article presumptuous as I’m not a Christian. Nevertheless, most of the country still observes Christmas is some form. Jews have taken an obscure holiday, Hanukkah, and packaged it into Xmas Lite so they can partake of the holiday fun. Pagans had a holiday centered on the winter solstice….
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On Tolerance – I
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 20th December 2019Tolerance: The ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. OK, I’ve defined tolerance. The question is how much of it is there and is there a limit on how much of tolerance can exist? Tolerance may be zero sum game. The…
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The Ascension of the Count of Orgaz
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th December 2019The Ascension of the Count of Orgaz is a painting by El Greco (Doménikos Theotokópoulos) 1541-1614. It depicts the burial of Don Gonzalo Ruíz and the ascension of his soul to heaven. Ruíz was posthumously promoted to count, hence the title. Burial is often used in place of Ascension when referring to the painting, but I think the latter…
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The Common Good
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th December 2019Conservatives Need To Support Labor As Much As They Support Capital Formation is a piece by Jon Schweppe. In it he argues for policies which he thinks will benefit the common good. He thinks that the government should encourage the well being of workers and that such a stance should be supported by conservatives since…
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What’s in a Decade?
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th December 2019What a Way To End the Decade is the headline of a Fox Business article on the November jobs report. I suspect it’s not a good idea to get financial updates from an organization that doesn’t know when a decade ends, though such confusion is common. A consecutive sequence of 10 starting with 1 ends with…
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O Mio Babbino Caro
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th December 2019Puccini’s only comic opera, Gianni Schicchi, moves like a torrent. In its skill and vitality it’s up to the best of Rossini and is evocative of Verdi’s Falstaff. But no matter the pace, the master from Lucca could, and seemingly was compelled, to write a great tune for his leading lady. And unlike Tosca’s Vissi…
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Climate Change
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd December 2019The video below, despite its sarcastic title, makes an important point. It’s that when looked at over a long time frame climate change is not as pronounced as some believe it to be. I am not an expert in this field and am not qualified to pass judgement on this view or those who think…
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Plague in the US
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 1st December 2019A recent TV segment (it’s at the end of this article) commented on the recent occurrence of four cases in China of plague over the past month. The medical expert interviewed on the show expressed concern that given the extent of travel from China to the US that the disease might spread here. He did…
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