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For 28 years of inspired insanity, the L.A.-based Troubadour Theater Company has wreaked
maniacal mayhem mangling modern and classic sources in order to manufacture mischievous
musical mishmashes upon the live stage. The Troubies’ – as this inimitable intrepid troupe is
monikered – mirthful mashups include 2014’s Abbamemnon (see:
https://hollywoodprogressive.com/stage/troubador-theater-company-abbame…), which
combined Aeschylus’ first tragedy in his ancient trilogy The Oresteia with the Swedish band
Abba’s disco music. Haunted House Party is the Troubies’ adaptation of Roman playwright
Plautus’ 2 nd century B.C. comedy Mostellaria (see:
https://hollywoodprogressive.com/stage/haunted-house-party). And in 2021’s Lizastrata, which
blends Liza Minnelli songs, especially from Kander and Ebbs’ Cabaret, with Aristophanes’
Greek antiwar sex satire Lysistrata, first performed in Athens in 411 BCE (see:

Gaza was among the main topics on the agenda of Russian President Vladimir Putin as he arrived in the Middle East region on Wednesday, December 6.

“U.S. leads coalition to triple nuclear power by 2050 in effort to address climate change,” was the headline of a December 4th CNBC article on activity at the UN conference called COP28 being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on the climate crisis.

COP stands for Conference of the Parties, annual gatherings under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The 28 is for this being the 28th session. It began on November 30th and is to end on December 12.

When it started, there was a stir over the conference president being Sultan Al Jaber who just happens to head the UAE’s state-owned oil company, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, (ADNOC). Time magazine splashed a photo of Al Jaber on its cover with the caption: “Oil executive Sultan Al Jaber is at the center of a global climate fight. MAN IN THE MIDDLE.”

On Friday December 1st active Israeli combat operations resumed directed against Gaza after a one week “pause” to exchange hostages and prisoners. It should surprise no one to learn that Israel’s ultimate objective in its sustained war crime directed against Gaza is to kill and/or drive out its 2.3 million Palestinian inhabitants. The adopted policy, which has been revealed through a top level Israeli intelligence document relating to options for operations in Gaza that was leaked to the media, “…recommends a full population transfer as its preferred course of action. …” to include “the evacuation of the civilian population from Gaza to Sinai.” And Israel should “Make It Clear [to the refugees that] there Is No Hope of Returning [home]” with the final objective being “wiping Gaza off the map.”

Producer Sam Goldwyn supposedly once said: “If you want to send a message, use Western Union.” The movie mogul presumably believed that motion pictures are not the appropriate medium for artists to impart a philosophical or political perspective in. In fact, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s motto, which appeared superimposed around the head of a roaring lion, was “Ars gratia artis,” which translated from Latin is: “Art for art’s sake.”

Audra McDonald seems to disagree with Goldwyn’s dictum, that implies talents should not express their worldview through an art form. “I pick songs based on their messages,” the soprano unabashedly proclaimed to the rapt throng at L.A.’s sold-out Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Apparently, the audience agrees with McDonald’s POV, and not Goldwyn’s verdict.

Posted at: http://duluthreader.com/articles/2012/12/07/1236_pearl_harbor_the_day_of_infamy_and_fdr_if_work

This is the week that the corporate media, careful to not upset the uber-patriots and nationalists among us, will be featuring reports about the December 7, 1941 Japanese “sneak attack” on Pearl Harbor. In addition to hearing stories about those beginnings of WWII (at least for the US), we may also be hearing reports about the endings, including the myths about the necessity of killing hundreds of thousands of innocent and unarmed non-combatants - women, children and old men - in the infamous Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb attacks when all indications were that the Japanese were on their knees and looking for ways to surrender with honor.