We were living in Houston in June of 1976, when we heard the news – terrorists had hijacked an Air France plane traveling from Tel Aviv to Paris and forced the pilot to land at Entebbe airport in Uganda. Upon arrival, the terrorists were warmly greeted by Uganda’s dictator, Idi Amin. Jews and non-Jews were separated, and non-Jews flown to Paris. The captain and crew, all non-Jews, chose to remain with their Jewish passengers. What happened next made worldwide headlines and history.
It is my daily disconnect. I receive all kinds of promotional stories about visiting the wonders of historic Britain, and then I watch the news and social media reports about crime in London, unrest all over England, farmers marching and protesting the Labour government, police arresting people for saying things that seem almost normal in countries that recognize free speech rights. It’s a disconnect, but I have to say that we’ve seen the signs during our numerous trips to London, even in the heavily touristed areas. And one of the most worrisome was spotlighted this week by The Critic Magazine: British cultural institutions are erasing Christianity.
While photography was becoming well-known at the time of the Civil War, newspapers and periodicals still relied upon artists for illustrations. And one of the best-known artists was Thomas Nast. Emerging Civil War describes his wartime Christmas art.
More Good Reads
America 250
From The New Criterion:
Reflections on the revolution: an introduction – Roger Kimball.
Conceived in liberty – Myron Magnet.
Burke’s revolutionary reflection – Domonic Green.
America’s art of war – Victor Davis Hanson.
Teach your children well – Wilfred McClay.
The great divorce – Andrew Roberts.
Origins of independence – James Piereson.
New Jersey’s Revolutionary Rivalry – Jeff Broadwater at the Journal of the American Revolution.
Sacrifice at Sixteen – Phil Greenwalt at Emerging Revolutionary War Era.
The First Christmas of the American Revolution – Jonathan Horn at The Free Press.
Writing and Literature
What One Urbanite Learned from Wendell Berry – Jim Wildeman at Mere Orthodoxy.
Gilead Reveals a Gilded World – Phil Cotnoir at Front Porch Republic.
Poetry
Winter Apple – David Whyte.
“Snow-Bound,” poem by John Greenleaf Whittier – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.
After Vermeer – poem by Sean McDowell at Literary Matters.
The Orphans – poem by Benjamin Myers (and read by the poet) at High Planis Public Radio’s Poet on the Plains.
Faith
Don’t Fight the Wrong War – Casey McCall at One Thing Necessary.
Light of the Stable – Emmylou Harris (1975), with harmony vocals by Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, and Neil Young
Painting: Old Master, oil on canvas (1793) by Giuseppe Angeli (1710-1798).
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