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Tag Archives: United States

President Trump & the Judges

23 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by michelinewalker in Election 2016, United States

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Dismissing the Judges, FBI's James Comey, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Michael T. Flynn, Robert S. Mueller, Sally Yates, the Russian Connection, the Travel Ban, United States

“I expected this to be an uneventful few weeks,” Sally Yates said, of her role as the acting Attorney General. Instead, she was embroiled in two of the biggest controversies of Trump’s early Presidency. PHOTOGRAPH BY CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY

On 26 January 2017, the acting Attorney General of the United States, Sally Yates, expected an “uneventful few weeks.” President Trump had just been inaugurated and usually Presidents of the United States do not infringe upon the laws of the land. By and large, human beings expect what I will call “normal” circumstances. However, Ms Yates soon informed the President that United States Army Lieutenant-General Michael Flynn  “was vulnerable to blackmail by Russia.”

Our Interview with Sally Yates on the Russia Investigation – The New Yorker

By Ryan Lizza

“I expected this to be an uneventful few weeks,” Yates said, of her role minding the Justice Department until Jeff Sessions was confirmed by the Senate. Instead, she was embroiled in two of the biggest controversies of Trump’s early Presidency. On January 26th, Yates informed the White House that Michael Flynn, then the national-security adviser, was vulnerable to blackmail by Russia. Four days later, she wrote in a letter to Justice Department lawyers that she was not convinced the travel ban was lawful.

In the photograph below, taken in 2015, Lieutenant-General Michael Flynn is sitting next to Russian President Vladimir Putin. That Russia had interfered with the United States Presidential election, held on 8 November 2016, was common knowledge almost as soon as the votes were counted, but talks began earlier. (See Michael T. Flynn, Wikipedia.)

2015_RT_gala_dinner_in_Moscow,_general_Flynn_next_to_President_Putin

In December 2015, Flynn and Jill Stein attended RT’s (Russia Today) 10th anniversary gala. Flynn is sitting next to Vladimir Putin during the dinner. (Caption and Photo credit: Wikipedia)

President Trump failed to take seriously Sally Yates’ findings seriously. In fact, on 27 January 2017, he complicated his relationship with the acting Attorney General by issuing Executive Order 13769, a travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, but not Saudi Arabia, where President Trump just travelled. Executive Order 13769 provoked anger and indignation among Muslims and the more tolerant citizens of the United States, but it was a violation of the American Constitution.  As a result, a temporary restraining order saved the day. More consequential, however, was the Russian connection: heads fell, so to speak.

Dismissals

Sally Yates, 24 January – 30 January 2017
Michael T. Flynn, 20 January – 13 February 2017
James Comey, 4 September 2013 – 9 May 2017

Sally Yates was dismissed on 30 January 2017. Yet, she was the acting Attorney General of the United States. As for Michael T. Flynn’s tenure as national security advisor, it lasted 24 days. Mr Flynn was in office from 20 January 2017 until 13 February 2017 (see Michael T. Flynn, Wikipedia), which takes us to James Comey, the Federal Bureau of Investigation who broke with protocol by reöpening the investigation into Mrs Clinton’s emails on the eve of the November 2016 United States Presidential election and may still have been examining Mrs Clinton’s email when he was fired, on 9 May 2017. It is as though President Donald Trump were dismissing the ‘judges.’

The Russian Connection

Dismissing the judges? Not quite. Mr Comey was merely investigating possible collusion between Michael Flynn and Russia. At any rate, there was a private dinner at which President Trump asked for James Comey’s “loyalty.” President Trump wanted Mr Comey to “let this go,” ‘this’ being his investigation into Michael T. Flynn and Russia. Not only did Mr Comey continue investigating the Russian connection, but he also kept notes of his conversations with Mr Trump and prepared thoroughly for his meetings with the President.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/comey-prepared-extensively-for-his-conversations-with-trump/2017/05/18/e53b1734-3bf1-11e7-a058-ddbb23c75d82_story.html?tid=pm_world_pop&utm_term=.608c5611148d

Behind Closed Doors

Given allegations of meddling in the 8 November 2016 United States Presidential election; given also that the President fired Mr Comey on 9 May 2017, why did President Trump meet behind closed doors with Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, and Russian ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak on 10 May 2017?

The strange Oval Office meeting between Trump, Lavrov and Kislyak – The Washington Post, right, meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the White House on May 10. (Russian Foreign Ministry via Associated Press)

The Investigation

The Justice Department has therefore appointed former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, Mr James Comey’s predecessor as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr Mueller has been asked to conduct a thorough inquiry into the Russian connection, including possible interference in the 8 November 2016 American Presidential elections. Will President Trump also dismiss former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller? There is a pattern. President Trump dismisses the judges.

For instance, President Trump has given his daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, too important a role. There has not been a significant public outcry, at least not in the United States. She is the first daughter. However, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has used the word “nepotism” with respect to Ivanka’s prominence in President Trump’s administration. Moreover, during President Trump’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia, Jared Kushner negotiated a $110B Saudi arms deal.

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/04/29/german-minister-calls-out-ivanka-trump-nepotism/22061514/

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/19/politics/jared-kushner-saudi-arms-deal-lockheed-martin/index.html

So one wonders. Will Mr Mueller be the judge of President Trump, or President Trump, the judge of Mr Mueller? I think Mr Mueller will be the investigator and ‘judge,’ and that no one will manipulate his findings.

It has all been so strange that I must close and return to Reynard the Fox after a long, unavoidable and unintentional interruption. I apologize.

Love to everyone ♥ 

Bach – “G Minor” (Luo Ni)

Robert S. Mueller (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
22 May 2017
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The Keystone Pipeline revisited

27 Friday Jan 2017

Posted by michelinewalker in Aboriginals, United States

≈ Comments Off on The Keystone Pipeline revisited

Tags

Apologies, Keystone Pipeline, Saskatchewan Oil Spill, The Economy, the environment, United States

trudeaujpg

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

When Advantages outweigh the Risks…

A dear friend, John, tells me Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and his government have studied the matter of exporting crude oil to the United States. It appears advantages outweigh the risks by far. Most of the Keystone Pipeline is in the United States and Canada’s economy is ailing, so Canada is exporting.

voltaire-baquoy

Voltaire at Postdam by Pierre Charles Baquoy after N. A. Monsiau (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

« Quelques arpents de neige »

I therefore stand corrected. Prudence is essential, but Canada’s economy dictates measured risks. Voltaire (21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778) called Nouvelle-France a “few acres of snow” (« quelques arpents de neige ») (Candide, Chapter 23). He may have been criticizing the French government. Nouvelle-France had lost its Huguenots, Calvinist Protestants, its merchant class, when Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, an edict of tolerance towards Protestants.

My Bourbeau ancestors were well-to-do citizens of New France. They were not farmers, but Huguenot businessmen. Huguenots fled to the United States when the Édit de Nantes was revoked, in 1685. They feared persecution and death. Some converted to Roman Catholicism and stayed in New France. They were good businessmen and prospered.

When François-Xavier Garneau (15 June 1809 – 2 or 3 February 1866) wrote his Histoire du Canada, he bemoaned the departure of Huguenots. His book was censored by the Church in Quebec and he had to remove his statement regarding French Huguenots. New France was an expensive venture, but there is wealth beneath our “few acres of snow.”

It may that the Prime Minister and his cabinet took a leap of faith to protect the economy.

Exporting and the Economy

Canada is committed to protecting its environment, but I am told Monsieur Trudeau needs to export some of its natural resources or take us the poorhouse. Precautions must be taken, but families should be fed. Poverty is one of the great ills of the world.

In short,  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is working for the people and he and his cabinet must protect Canadians. We have taken in a large number of refugees and more may arrive. In fact, a number of Americans are buying real estate in Canada. We may be their refuge. There are no foreigners in Canada, just plain Canadians of every ethnicity and creed.

The Environment: Saskatchewan Oil Spill

Environmentalists are concerned and I am one of them. There are oil spills. Recently, on 23 January 2017, a pipeline leaked 50,000 gallons (200,000 liters) of oil on land belonging to the First Nations, Canada’s Amerindians.

http://www.businessinsider.com/a-canadian-oil-pipeline-leaked-more-than-50000-gallons-of-oil-on-aboriginal-land-2017-1

Bernie Sanders used his Twitter account to comment on the oil spill:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/01/23/saskatchewan-oil-spill_n_14350146.html

Pipelines leak occasionally. A small crack may cause a catastrophe. One worries. It could be that pipelines are affected by very cold weather. If such is the case, we need better pipelines.

I once lived in Saskatchewan and loved it. I worked in public relations for a year, but teaching was my profession. I accepted a teaching position at St Francis Xavier University, in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Yet, the accident happened in a place I called home.

Conclusion

My apologies to Prime Minister Trudeau. I hope sincerely that President Trump will respect Canadian policies. They differ from American policies.

I fear President Trump.

Love to everyone ♥

—ooo—

Buffy Sainte-Marie sings Universal Soldier

1-ssu3xtvsjww8ckt1jcjpnq

© Micheline Walker
27 January 2017
WordPress

 

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Best Wishes for the New Year

02 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by michelinewalker in Feasts, Sharing, United States

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Alma Mater Redemptoris, Best Wishes, Marian hymnology, Midterm Elections, President Obama, United States

Winter, Gazette du bon ton

L’Hiver, Gazette du bon ton

I am using this light-hearted “pochoir” to wish my faithful readers a very Happy New Year.

Remembering 4 November 2008

Let us hope 2015 will be a better year. There were sad events in 2014: terrorism, racism…  Moreover, on 4 November 2014, money made room in Congress for Republican candidates who may not otherwise have been elected into office. Money should not buy aspiring politicians a seat in Congress or, in the case of Canada, a seat in Parliament.

The date I want to remember is 4 November 2008. On that day, Americans elected to the presidency of the United States an exceptionally gifted and accomplished gentleman who cares for his people and has earned considerable respect for his country wherever he has travelled.

—ooo—

You have become very dear to me so I hope health issues will not prevent me from reading your posts and writing mine in 2015.

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU.

winter-236x300

Marian Hymnology

The Alma Mater Redemptoris is the Marian Antiphon of the season. I have therefore inserted a lovely interpretation of Palestrina’s Alma Mater Redemptoris at the foot of this post. On 2 February 2015, formerly Candlemas but now groundhog day, we will switch to the second of four Marian antiphons, the Ave Regina Cælorum.

RELATED ARTICLE

  • Posts on Marian Hymnology (7 January 2013)

—ooo—

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525 – 2 February 1594) (Julian Podger, Monteverdi Choir)

47visnew
Madonna, Raphael

© Micheline Walker
1 January 2015
WordPress

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Suing President Obama: Related Posts

04 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, United States

≈ Comments Off on Suing President Obama: Related Posts

Tags

Debussy, harassment, Henri Matisse, Mr. John Boehner, obstructionism, President Barack Obama, scapegoating, Suite bergamasque, United States

 
Branch of Lilacs, by Henri Matisse, 1914

Branch of Lilacs, by Henri Matisse, 1914 (Photo credit: WikiArt.org)

My sincere apologies to anyone who found my last post offensive.

My post was not offensive, nor was it subversive. However, this new event invites serious reflection on a number of issues. Among these, the numerous attacks on the President of the United States. These point to behaviour that cannot be considered reasonable and acceptable. There are rules of conduct that preclude harassment.

I hope sincerely President Obama did not abuse the power vested in him. I doubt that he has. He is the Commander-in-Chief of the United States’ military, but he is not belligerent.

My post entitled “Suing President Obama” contained a list of related articles. This list disappeared. My computer is no longer stable. It sometimes erases part of what I have written. I think I need a birthday.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • From Manifest Destiny to Exceptionalism  (10 November 2013)
  • The Debt-Ceiling Crisis: the Aftermath (5 November 2013)
  • “The Crow and the Fox:” its Dissemination (27 October 2013)
  • La Fontaine’s “The Raven and the Fox” Updated (24 October 2013)
  • A Deal: Finally! (17 October 2013)
  • Hardline Republicans: Arrogance, Greed & Disregard for Human Life (13 October 2013)
  • A House Divided… (10 October 2013)

“Suite bergamasque, four-movement suite for piano by French composer Claude Debussy, begun in 1890, when the composer was a student, and revised and published in 1905. Its most readily recognizable segment is the third movement, the ever-popular Clair de lune (“Moonlight”).

The work’s title derives from Bergamo, a city with ancient origins that is located in the foothills of the Italian Alps. It is traditionally considered the home of Harlequin, a standard figure of the commedia dell’arte. The first movement, Prélude, has open and flowing phrases with much use of legato phrases. The second movement, Menuet, and the fourth movement, Passepied, are quick and light-footed, more staccato in mood than the first. The gentle and familiar Clair de lune in its original context provides an elegant contrast to the sprightly second and fourth movements.”

Betsy Schwarm[I]

My kindest regards to all of you.

_________________________

[I] “Suite bergamasque.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 04 Aug. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1944683/Suite-bergamasque>.

Pascal's Pensées, Henri Matisse

Pascal’s Pensées, Henri Matisse, 1924 (WikiArt.org)

Debussy‘s “Clair de lune” (Suite bergamasque)
Angela Hewitt
Angela Hewitt performs a live concert for the Royal Conservatory of Music at Toronto’s Koerner Hall.
 

Bouquet of Mixed Flowers

© Micheline Walker
4 November 2014
WordPress

 
Henri Matisse, 1917
(Photo credit: WikiArt.org) 

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Ringuet’s Trente arpents (Second Part)

12 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Canadian History, French-Canadian Literature, Quebec, Regionalism

≈ Comments Off on Ringuet’s Trente arpents (Second Part)

Tags

Dr Philippe Panneton, Euchariste Moisan, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor Coté, Regionalism, Ringuet, the Great Depression, Thirty Acres, Trente arpents, United States

 
Hauling Logs, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté (National Gallery of Canada)

Hauling Logs, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, 1924
(National Gallery of Canada)

Hauling Logs
Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté (1869 – 1937)
 

Thirty Acres (Trente Arpents)

by Ringuet (pseudonym of Philippe Panneton), 1938
translated by Felix and Dorothea Walter 
 

Fall

The fall chapters of Trente Arpents start with he a praise of life on one’s thirty acres.  It is a “un chemin paisible et long,” (a lengthy and peaceful road) despite various difficulties: storms, winter.

[l]à-dessous, toujours, la terre constante, éternellement virginale et chaque année maternelle. (p. 149)

(And underneath, the soil forever faithful, eternally new and each year maternal.)
 

The land has a persistent face:  “un visage (a face) persistant,” (p. 149) but as he praises the land’s persistence and fertility, Euchariste is confronted with a series of unfortunate events, some of which he has helped create…

Oguinase

Oguinase becomes a priest, but he does not live in a lovely parish and he works too hard.  When Euchariste visits him, he is coughing and weak.  He will soon die of tuberculosis.  During Oguinase’s last visit home, he tells his sister Lucinda that she should not be sleeveless in the presence of an ordained priest.  She feels offended and is not seen again.

The Conscription Crisis of 1917

Then comes conscription: World War I.  Suddenly, these farmers remember pre-Revolutionary France:  Christ and the King:  “la France du Christ et du Roi.” (p. 158)  They remember a somewhat revisionist Rebellion of 1837, called ’37.  Would that they had a leader and were their own masters!  The past is mythified.

Éphrem

Euchariste had hoped his son Éphrem would settle of his own thirty acres.  There is money at the notary to buy “la terre des Picard,” the Picard’s farm, and Euchariste has even thought of a possible bride.  There is no room for him on Euchariste’s thirty acres.  The land cannot accommodate several sons.  Yet Éphrem is not ready to become a farmer.

C’est vrai que not’ terre elle est bonne, mais elle n’est pas ben grande! (p.163)

(It’s true, our land is good, but it isn’t very large.)
 

Éphrem eventually decides to leave for the United States.  His uncle, Alphée Larivière (Walter Rivers), who visited during the summer, has found work for him in Lowell, Massachusetts.  Later, Éphrem marries an Irish woman and moves to White Falls.

Phydime Raymond vs Euchariste Moisan

Oguinase dies, which saddens Euchariste immensely, and he then gets embroiled in an expensive legal battle with his neighbour Phydime Raymond.  Decades ago, Euchariste sold a small piece of his thirty acres to Phydime, but Phydime is now taking more land that he bought.

Étienne: “le seul maître” 

Matters do not improve.  Having been burdened with legal fees Eucharist never thought would be astronomical, misfortune does not relent.  One night Eucharist’s barn burns to the ground and he suspects that Phydime set fire to it.  There are losses but the farm animals are safe.  They had been removed immediately and a new barn is built but not according to Euchariste’s wishes.  It is built according to Étienne’s standards.  Étienne loves the land.  Each year, it grows more and more into “a spouse and a lover:”

épouse et maîtresse, sa suzeraine [like a feudal lord] et sa servante, à lui Étienne Moisan. (p. 165)

Napoléon or Pitou: the arrangement

An arrangement is made.  Étienne will run the farm with Napoléon, called Pitou.  A new house will be built for Pitou and his family.  All is arranged, except that Euchariste is in the way.  It would now be convenient for him to live elsewhere. However, the notary leaves town taking with him Euchariste’s savings.  He is dispossessed.

Winter

When the winter of his life begins, an impoverished Euchariste gives his land and his possessions to Étienne.  In exchange, he will receive an allowance, a rente (a pension).  But he is nevertheless again dispossessed, “land and beasts, gains and debts.”  He is blinded by tradition: from father to son.

Il se ‘donna’, terre et bestiaux, avoir et dettes. (p. 219-20)

(He ‘gave’ himself, land, beasts, assets and debts.)

Euchariste has therefore lost his home.  Étienne is now the only master: “seul maître.”  (p. 220)  He has already moved into the large house, which he hopes his father will soon leave.  After all, Étienne is the new owner.

The Holiday in the United States: The “Exode”

Euchariste is therefore sent on a “holiday” to the United States to visit Éphrem who works in a factory and lives in White Falls.  Euchariste is completely disoriented.  Moreover, his daughter-in-law does not speak French, nor do his two grandchildren.  Not once does his daughter-in-law express pleasure at his being in their household.  In fact, Sunday mass becomes Euchariste’s only respite.

Sundays: the only day

Sunday is the only day Euchariste meets a few persons who do not feel at home in the United States.  It has been a long and disappointing holiday, all the more since Étienne has not been sending the monthly allowance, la rente (the pension), he had promised he would give his father in return for ownership of Euchariste’s lost thirty acres.

Going home has therefore become difficult.  In fact, Euchariste has no home and, suddenly, the market crashes and he is “needed” in the United States.  The factory where Éphrem has been working for six years is letting people go or making them work on a part-time basis.

The Great Depression: Euchariste returns to work

Therefore, an older and sadder Euchariste wants to work again, possibly for a farmer.  Éphrem finds a job for his father, that of night watch in a garage.  But, Euchariste hesitates to accept this position, not because he will not work on a farm, but for fear of falling asleep for a moment and being remiss in his duties.  Times have changed!

Ce qui le terrifiait au début, c’était la crainte de s’endormir, de manquer un instant à son devoir de surveillance. (p. 268)

(What terrified him at first, was fear that he would fall asleep and fail for a moment to be vigilant, which was his duty [devoir]).   
 

He earns fifteen dollars a week, but Éphrem takes ten of the fifteen dollars.  Moreover, Étienne also wants money.  It is as though there had been no arrangement between Étienne and Pitou.  Euchariste is therefore needed not only in the US but also in Canada.  His daughter Marie-Louise is sick.  She is dying of tuberculosis and needs medical care, which is expensive.  She soon dies.

* * *

At the end of the novel, Euchariste is depicted as a very frail old man huddling near a little stove in the garage where he works.

Yet, although it is sad, the end is also poetical.  Ringuet takes us away from the plight of one man to the plight and joy of mankind, or from the particular to the general.  He writes that every year spring returns and that, every year, the land is generous.  The land is always the same, toujours la même, not to the same men, men pass, but to different men:

…à des hommes différents…
…une terre toujours la même.
 
Suggested reading:
 
The Canadian Encyclopedia
Ringuet (Athabaska University)
 

—ooo—

 
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893)
Andante Cantabile
Yo-Yo Ma, Cello
 
 
After the Breakup, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté (National Gallery of Canada)

After the Breakup, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, 1914 (National Gallery of Canada)

© Micheline Walker
July 28, 2012
WordPress 
 
revised
January 12, 2014
 
After the Breakup
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Ringuet’s Trente arpents (First Part)

12 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, French-Canadian Literature, Quebec, Regionalism

≈ Comments Off on Ringuet’s Trente arpents (First Part)

Tags

cultivateur, Dr Philippe Panneton, exode, Exodus, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor Coté, Regionalism in Quebec fiction, Ringuet, roman du terroir, Trois-Rivières, United States

 
Returning from the Field,  Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté (National Gallery of Canada)

Returning from the Field, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté
(National Gallery of Canada)

Returning from the Field
Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté (6 April 1869 – 29 January 1937)
 

Sans l’homme la terre n’est point féconde c’est ce besoin qu’elle de lui qui le lie à la terre, qui le fait prisonnier de trente arpents de glèbe. (p. 65)

[Without man, the land is arid.  It is because the land needs him that man is tied to it and becomes the prisoner of thirty acres of soil.]

Thirty Acres (Trente Arpents)[i]

by Ringuet (pseudonym of Philippe Panneton), 1938
translated by Felix and Dorothea Walter 
 

Trente Arpents is considered the last of the regionalist novels.  It is a gem of a novel and won its author, Ringuet, a pseudonym for Dr Phillippe Panneton (30 April 1895 [Trois-Rivières] – 28 December 1960 [Lisbon]), a medical doctor who went on to write more novels and became a diplomat.

However, among his other novels, none is so moving as the story of the rise and fall of Euchariste Moisan who is wedded to the trente arpents he has inherited from his uncle Éphrem.  L’oncle Éphrem and his wife never had children, but they brought Euchariste whose entire family perished in a fire when he was still a tiny child.

Spring

At the very beginning of the novel not only does Euchariste learn that he will inherit his uncle’s land, but arrangements are being made for Euchariste to marry a neighbour’s daughter a neigbours’s daughter who will dutifully have “son nombre,” or the number of children she is destined to bear, as though her numerous and draining  pregnancies had nothing to do with sexual intercourse.

Soon after Éphrem tells Euchariste that when he dies he will inherit the thirty acres, he dies and Euchariste finds himself the owner of the thirty acres farmers, the habitants of New France, rented from their SEIGNEUR.  Because Éphrem dies, Euchariste and Alphonsine may marry a little earlier than anticipated and occupy the large room: “la grande chambre”  The household also includes “la vieille Mélie,” an unmarried elderly woman who simply arrived at Éphrem’s door and never left.  Mélie helps Alphonsine until she is very old and dies almost imperceptibly in her chair.  As for Alphonsine, she gives birth first to a son, Oguinase, then to a daughter who dies shortly after the birth of the couple’s third child.

 Il [Euchariste] les accueillait ces naissances, sans plaisir comme aussi sans regret….  Il fallait qu’Alphonsine eût ‘son nombre’. (p.67)

[He welcomed these births, without pleasure, yet without regret.  Alphonsine simply had to have ‘her number’.]

Summer

In the second part of the novel, appropriately divided into the four seasons, Euchariste is more of an owner, but tilling the land and looking after the farm animals is onerous.  Despite years of draught, Eucharists prospers.  He puts money in the notary’s safe regularly.  As for Alphonsine, she is raising her children and still “féconde” (fertile).  At this point, Éphrem is asked to see the curé, the parish priest.  Oguinase is old enough and sufficiently gifted to be recruited for the priesthood by the curé.  He will not have to pay tuition fees.

So Oguinase leaves for the petit séminaire, the private school, now abolished, that allowed graduates to enter the priesthood, le grand séminaire, or university (law or medicine).  Euchariste talks about his projetcs.  On their way home, they visit a cousin living in a village.  The house is more humble than Euchariste had expected.  Euchariste talks about his projects: raising hens.  Two events now mark the year: Oguinase’s departure for the college and his return.

Euchariste hopes his son Éphrem will now help more and more, but Éphrem is growing into rebel.  Moreover, the world is changing.  Machines are being used by farmers, machines that can cut fingers off, and cars the kill Euchariste’s hens.  The parist has grown to such an extent that a new parish is founded.  All around him, Euchariste’s world is changing and his new circumstances cause him to stiffen.

Moreover, it seems Alphonsine is again pregnant, but she feels that something is amiss.  She sees her reflection in a mirror and the woman looking at her is no longer Alphonsine.  In the mirror she sees an old and sick woman.  A doctor is called who tells her to stay in bed, her death-bed.

Alphonsine raises her family; there are good years and years of draught.  Euchariste saves his money.  Oguinase is sent to the petit séminaire.  On their way to the séminaire Euchariste stops in a village to visit with a cousin and says he will be raising hens.  Machines, cars, enter the picture and they are very destructive.  Machines, cars, enter the picture and they are very destructive.  Euchariste will be raising hens.  Éphrem turns into a bit of a rebel.  Alphonsine dies.  An American cousin and his wife visit.  We suspect Éphrem will leave for the United States.

(Allow me to pause at this point as this blog is now too long.  I am posting a sequel.)
 
 
Suggested reading:
 
The Canadian Encyclopedia
Ringuet (Athabaska University)
_________________________
[i] Ringuet, Trente Arpents (Paris: Flammarion, collection bis 1991[1938]). 
 
  
 
Winter Landscape, Suzor-Coté, (National Gallery of Canada

Winter Landscape, 1909, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, (National Gallery of Canada)

© Micheline Walker
27 July 2012
WordPress
 
revised
12 January 2014
 
 
Winter Landscape
   
 
  
 
 

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Posts on the United States

02 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in United States

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Barack Obama, Government Shutdown, Jean de La Fontaine, Le Coq et la Perle, obstructionism, scapegoating, United States

Scene_at_the_Signing_of_the_Constitution_of_the_United_States
Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, by Howard Chandler Christy
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
 

On President Barack Obama

No one is perfect.  But President Obama has been keeping his nation afloat and growing.  Given the burden he inherited, he has in fact done very well.  Were it not for President Obama and members of his administration, it would be extremely difficult for the international community to trust the US.  At the moment, the credibility of the US within the world community is based almost entirely on the intellectual and moral principles of its President.

This is cutting one’s nose to spite one’s face and it is petty, in the utmost.

A lot of people are like the cock of the fable told below, by Jean de La Fontaine (8 July 1621 – 13 April 1695).  They cannot tell quality.

◊◊◊

“The Cock and the Pearl” (I.20)

A cock scratched up, one day,
A pearl of purest ray,
Which to a jeweller he bore.
“I think it fine,” he said,
“But yet a crumb of bread
To me were worth a great deal more.”
So did a dunce inherit
A manuscript of merit,
Which to a publisher he bore.
“It’s good,” said he, “I’m told,
Yet any coin of gold
To me were worth a great deal more.”
 
Jean de La Fontaine (I.20)
Le Coq et la Perle (I.20)
 

Post on the United States

Here are two lists of posts and two posts.  The second list is not complete.

List One

  • Watching the US  (Andrew Wyeth)
 
 

List Two

 
  • The Art of Alfred Thompson Bricher: Posts about the United States
 

imagesCAI0D4K5

(Photo credit:  Google Images) 
 
  • Watching the US (1) (Andrew Wyeth)
  • The Art of Alfred Thompson Bricher: Posts about the United States (2)
  • The US: Obstructionism and Scapegoating (7 November 2011)
  • Mutiny in Congress: Ship them to Guantanamo (21 December 2011)

◊◊◊

Giuseppe Tartini (8 April 1692 – 26 February 1770)
”Devil’s Trill Sonata”
Itzhak Perlman, violin 
 
 
 
 140775904 
© Micheline Walker
October 2, 2013 
WordPress
 

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Dear Readers

16 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Art

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Cassatt, Gabriel Fauré, Impressionism, Mary Cassat, Mary Cassatt, United States

lilacs-in-a-window_jpg!Blog

Lilacs in a Window by Mary Cassatt, 1880 (Photo credit: Wikipaintings)

Dear Readers,

WordPress is still making my life difficult. My last post was dated 12 July.  I had then written a draft of the post on 12 July.  However, I did not complete the post until 15 July. I have republished it.  In order to read, it is no longer necessary to go back to July 12.  It’s a long post; yet it is not really complete.  It required at least one more comment on motherhood in Cassatt.  I must also point out that Cassatt Japoniste prints cannot be associated, except by date, with Impressionism.  These two elements have been included in the post dated 16 July 2013.

I am still unable to access my Reader and look at your posts.  If necessary, I will beg WordPress’s Happiness Engineer.

Allow me to wish you an excellent day.

Love to all.

 the-fitting-1891.jpg!Blog

The Fitting, by Mary Cassatt (1891)( Photo credit: Wikipaintings)

Gabriel Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924

Gabriel Fauré – Élégie for cello and orchestra Op. 24

 

the-boating-party-1894

© Micheline Walker
15 July 2013
WordPress
 
 
The Boating Party, 1893-1894
(Please click on the image to enlarge it.)
 
Related articles
  • Mary Cassat: an Intimate Japonisme (michelinewalker.com)
  • William Merritt Chase: Japonisme in America (michelinewalker.com)

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William Merritt Chase: Japonisme in America

06 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Japonisme

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

Academic art, Mary Cassatt, New York, New York City, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Tenth Street Studio Building, United States, William Merritt Chase

Chase_William_Merritt_Azaleas
Azaleas, by William Merritt Chase
 
 
William Merritt Chase (1 November 1849 – 25 October 1916)
Photo credit: Wikipaintings)
 

William Merritt Chase

William Merritt Chase was born in Indiana, but after moving to New York, he started travelling abroad and, among other activities, bought art for American clients.  In France, he studied painting with Lemuel Wilmarth, (see Athenaeum), a student of Jean-Léon Gérôme  (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904), an academicist, and then enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts, in Munich, where he was a student of Alexander Von Wagner and Karl von Piloty.  As a student in Munich, he befriended Walter Shirlaw, Frank Duveneck, and Joseph Frank Currier, whose artwork, Currier’s, he collected.  He travelled to Venice, Italy before returning to the United States in the summer of 1878.  On his return to North-America, he showed Ready for the Ride with the newly formed Society of American Artists, of which he would later serve as president.  He also opened a studio in New York in the Tenth Street Studio Building, where he moved into Albert Bierstadt‘s former studio which he furnished in a rather “flamboyant” manner.

“Chase filled the studio with lavish furniture, decorative objects, stuffed birds, oriental carpets, and exotic musical instruments. The studio served as a focal point for the sophisticated and fashionable members of the New York City art world of the late 19th century.” (The Complete Works)

A Teacher and a Family Man

Chase became an almost unrivalled teacher.  In 1891, he opened the Shinnecock Hills Summer School.  In 1896, he founded the Chase School of Art which became the New York School of Art two years later with Chase staying on as instructor until 1907, but he also taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.  Among his students was famed artist Georgia O’Keefe, Charles Demuth, and Marsden Hartley.  In his later years, he travelled to various European countries to give summer classes.

Chase married Alice Gerson, his former model, in 1886, and the couple had eight children.  His eldest daughters, Dieudonnée and Dorothy, often posed for their father.  The family owned a townhouse in New York and another property on Long Island.  Chase had a happy family life and died in his New York townhouse.

Japonisme

Pink Azaleas and Chinese Vase
Making her Toilet
Japanese Print
Photo credit: The Complete Works 
(Please click on the images to enlarge them.)
 
Pink-Azalea-Chinese-Vase-1880
Making-Her-Toilet
 
 
Japanese-Print
 

Conclusion

Japanese art spread to several European countries and crossed the Atlantic.  For instance, it had an influence on Americans  James Abbott McNeill Whistler, William Merritt Chase, and Mary Cassatt.  We will look at Japonisme in the art of Mary Cassatt.  I believe she is our best example.

Moreover, a few comments are needed.  Japonisme played a major role in the development of Western art in the second half of the nineteenth century.

However, for the time being, I pause.

* * *

Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto N° 2 in C Minor, Opus 18

 Peonies

Peonies, by W. M. Chase
(Photo credit: The Complete Works)
(Please click on the image to enlarge it.)
 
© Micheline Walker
6 July 2013
WordPress

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The National Rifle Association: Comments

11 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Music, Sharing, United States

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Americans, Boccherini, Francisco Goya, Madrid, Musica Notturna Delle Strade Di Madrid, National Rifle Association, NRA, Second Amendment, Stefania, United States

Executions of the Third of May, by Francisco Goya, 1814

Executions of the Third of May, by Francisco Goya, 1814

Il sueño de la razón produce monstruos, by Francisco Goya

El Sueño de la razón produce monstruos, by Francisco Goya

 
 

Self-entitlement

Allow me a few more comments on “entitlement” or “self-entitlement,” a state of mind that currently numbs reason among members of the National Rifle Association.  As I have written before, the spirit of the Second Amendment is to protect the American people, which it no longer does despite the presence of a “well regulated [sic] militia.”  Consequently, by virtue of the Second Amendment itself, one cannot allow the bearing of firearms by civilians as it now endangers “the security of a free state.”  Matters have turned around and the law should reflect current needs.

El Tres de mayo 1808 
Francisco Goya (30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828)
Museo del Prado (Madrid)
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (second image)
Photo credit for both images: Wikipedia
 

Entitlement or Self-Entitlement

“A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”  (The Second Amendment)

Citizens all over the world are entitled to safety.  In other words, they have “rights.”  However, entitlement, when carried too far, may and does stand in the way of reason.  In fact, at a certain point, self-entitlement constitutes a mental disorder.  Let me quote Wikipedia again:

“In clinical psychology and psychiatry, an unrealistic, exaggerated, or rigidly held sense of entitlement may be considered a symptom of narcissistic personality disorder, seen in those who ‘because of early frustrations…  arrogate to themselves the right to demand lifelong reimbursement from fate.'” (Entitlement)

The initial purpose of the Second Amendment was to ensure “the security of a free state,” the “free state” lacking a “well regulated militia.”  If members of the National Rifle Association cannot see that the United States now possesses “a well regulated militia,” i.e. the necessary law-enforcement agencies, and that the bearing of arms currently threatens “the security of a free state,” they and their supporters have lost the ability to use “reason” and imperil “the security of a free state.”  Thousands of Americans die from gun violence every year, including children, thereby making it obvious that people who bear arms threaten the safety of a “free state.”  If Americans did not bear arms, no American could shoot another American and potential killers could not purchase the powerful firearms that enable them to shoot innocent schoolchildren.

The Social Contract

Interestingly, by threatening “the security of a free state,” the NRA also threatens the Social contract and, therefore, the very concept of nationhood.  The purpose of nationhood is safety.  In its entirety, the United States Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) and adopted by the Second Continental Congress, reads as follows:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…”

There may be flaws in the United States Declaration of Independence, but it would be my conviction that “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” are “unalienable Rights.”  Consequently, members of the National Rifle Association are at odds with the United States Declaration of Independence.  Because of guns, lives are lost.  If I were a parent living in the United States, I would fear letting my children attend school.  Moreover, those parents who have lost children to a gunman, the parents of Newtown, grieve profoundly and will probably do so until they reach the end of their own journey on earth.

In short, given that they live in defiance of the Social contract, members of the National Rifle Association cannot be considered fully fledged citizens, no more than the rich people who deposit their money in offshore accounts.  Such people also threaten the concept of nationhood.  In fact, it could well be that Americans who once owned slaves and now refuse to pay their fair share of taxes feel they are entitled to a measure of compensation for a “right” they have lost.  Yet, slavery is not consistent with the declaration of independence which holds as “truths” that “Life, Liberty [my bold letters] and the pursuit of Happiness” are “unalienable Rights.”  Slavery was an aberration.

A Quotation from the Boston Globe

May I quote the first paragraph of an article by Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby entitled: ‘All men are created equal’ is not hypocrisy but vision and published on 4 July 2010 (please click on the title to read the entire article).

‘HOW IS it,’’ the great English man of letters Samuel Johnson [my link] taunted Americans 235 years ago, “that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of Negroes?’’ His fellow Englishman Thomas Day [my link] remarked in 1776 with equal scorn: “If there be an object truly ridiculous in nature it is an American patriot signing resolutions of independency with the one hand and with the other brandishing a whip over his affrighted slaves.’’

The Spirit and the Letter of the Second Amendment

We owe Montesquieu (18 January 1689 – 10 February 1755), a political thinker, as were Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the useful distinction between the spirit and the letter of the law.  Within bounds, the letter of the law does not always reflect faithfully the spirit of the law.  Yet, the letter of the law cannot contradict the spirit of the law in its totality.  That would be a mockery of justice.

In my opinion, worded in full, the Second Amendment should state that “a well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, [in the absence of a well regulated militia] the [current] right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.  That would be its spirit.  Statements need not always be worded in full because parts are inferred (see inference) and, therefore, understood.

There is currently in the United States a well-regulated militia.

Conclusion

I will conclude by writing that certain goals remain, such goals as “the security of a free state.”  However, the means can change.  Before the invention of airplanes, a New Yorker’s goal may have been to go to Paris, but his means of getting there was to board a trans-Atlantic or Ocean liner.

Similarly, a former means of ensuring the safety of citizens, the use of firearms by civilians, has changed.  Given that the United States now has “a well regulated militia” and because the former right to bear arms currently threatens the “security of a free state,” bearing arms should be controlled to the fullest extent.  At the moment, the goal, i.e. the “security of a free state,” or its safety, has rendered null and void the former “right” to “bear arms,” firearms threatening the “security of a free state.”  The means, bearing arms, must therefore be changed, and, as I wrote above, it must be changed by virtue of the Second Amendment itself: “the security of a free state.”

* * *

Luigi Boccherini (February 19, 1743 – May 28, 1805)
“Quintetto In Do Maggiore La Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid Op. 30, No. 6 (G. 324): Il Rosario – Largo Assai – Allegro – Largo Come Prima”
Rolf Lislevand, Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall 

(My dear colleague Stefania has used this piece of music.  Allow me to praise her excellent taste.)

The painting is by Francisco Goya and is entitled: “Dance of the Majos at the Banks of Manzanares.”  (Photo credit: Goya, The Complete Works).  
 
 
 
Prado_-_Los_Desastres_de_la_Guerra_-_No._15_-_Y_no_hai_remedioLos Desastres de la guerra. Y no hai remedio
(The Disasters of War. And there is no remedy),
by Francisco Goya, Museo del Prado
Photo credit: Wikipedia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Micheline Walker©
June 11, 2013
WordPress
 
Related articles
  • Natural vs Civil Law (pwhlee.wordpress.com)
  • The Social Contract: Hobbes, Locke & Rousseau (michelinewalker.com)
  • The National Rifle Association: Unrestrained Individualism (michelinewalker.com)
  • Self-entitlement and the NRA (michelinewalker.com)
  • Me, Myself and I (michelinewalker.com)

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