Photo: Claude Monet, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
In April 1874, about thirty painters in Paris stopped asking permission. The official Salon — the state-run exhibition that decided who was a real artist — kept rejecting their work, so they formed a cooperative with a deliberately dull name, the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers, rented the former studio of the photographer Nadar at 35 Boulevard des Capucines, and hung a show of their own. It lost money.
What it didn’t lose was the argument. It just took a hostile review to name the winning side.
Photo: Raul654, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
I keep running into it on X: seven million, eight million Jews killed by Hitler. Not from deniers — from people who plainly believe they’re honoring the victims by saying it. But the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s figure, built from decades of transport lists, camp records, and demographic reconstruction, is six million Jews murdered. That is the documented number, and it does not need help.
Photo: Dietmar Rabich, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Sometimes — and it doesn’t occur to me very often — there’s a good feeling that comes from helping others who, through no fault of their own, struggle every day to house and feed themselves and their family. We live in a great country, I believe; a country that (generally) offers opportunities to everyone to succeed. There are some, however, that fall through the cracks. It’s not that they are necessarily addicts or mentally ill, just circumstances have left them in a position that has them struggling for survival. I think we all need to be reminded that this could be us.
In December of 2015, early one morning, I was heading to a local grocery store. They open early and it’s easy, especially if you have a list (I always do), to get in, complete the list, and get home. I think it was around 7 am. As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed a car sitting next to the entry road. Behind it, I saw someone sitting there with a sign that read Please Help. Normally I just pass by, because there are a lot of “homeless” people that are in fact not, and are there to collect money — as much as $100 per day. We’re warned by local officials to be aware and that some (a few, not all) are just scamming the public.
In this case though I stopped. Why? There was a child, and so I thought at a minimum I could give the person there (wrapped up — it was chilly) a few dollars. As I approached I saw it was a young woman with a child, a little girl, maybe four or five years old. As I approached her I asked if I could help her. She responded that anything I could give would help, as they lived in the car. After maybe two minutes, I discovered that she was a veteran, separated from the Army a few years prior. Of course, I didn’t immediately believe her until she showed me her military ID.
I often grocery shop from home. Yeah, that’s right, I have my needs from a local grocery store delivered directly to my door. It’s a timesaver(mostly) and saves me the inconvenience of maneuvering up and down crowded aisles and the. standing in line for 10-15 minutes checking out.
I will be so relieved when these midterm elections are over. At this point, I really don’t care who wins what as long as I don’t have to see another campaign ad on TV for at least a little while when the presidential campaign season begins in earnest(next summer?). Am I the only one noticing how nasty these ads have become in the last month or six weeks? Of course, some of the races in my area are polling very close so the ads are not only nasty, the candidates are competing for who the greatest liar is this week. There’s no ideology behind what I’m saying; both parties are guilty. What’s odd is that they believe people are going to believe these lies when it’s easy to check out without having to depend on the obviously biased media. Yep, the good old Internet is the most trusted source for at least some truth. When you hear something outlandish about a candidate you might support, check it for yourself.
