Resources for September 29, 2014

Hussain, Murtaza. "How the U.S. Concocted a Terror Threat to Justify Syria Strikes, and the Corporate Media Went Along." Democracy Now (September 29, 2014)




Potter, Gary. "Militarized Police and Urban Colonies." Uprooting Criminology (January 20, 2014)

Hudson, David. Bardot @ 80: “‘Ban Bardot!’ advocated the morality leagues as if she were some kind of illegal drug.” Keyframe (September 28, 2014)

Kohn, Eric. "Was Richard Linklater's 12 Year Production 'Boyhood' Worth the Wait? In a Word, Yes." Indiewire (January 20, 2014)

Wertz, Peter. "Amarcord (1973)." Wertz of Wisdom (March 10, 2014)

Kizirian, Shari. "On the Street Where He Lives: Kleber Mendonça Filho films locally, stirs globally with Neighboring Sounds." Keyframe (January 13, 2014)

Bell, Anthea and George Prochnik. "The Cultural Redemption of Stefan Zweig." The Bat Segundo Show #550 (September 17, 2014)


rapier \RAY-pee-er\

adjective
: extremely sharp or keen
EXAMPLES

The wit and keen insight found in her blog are a testament to her rapier mind.

"Mr. Brady was a veteran Republican aide and a popular figure among Washington journalists. He was equipped with a rapier wit and a buoyant charm that tended to defuse controversy even before he began working for the White House in January 1981." — Jon Thurber, The Washington Post, August 5, 2014

A rapier is a straight, two-edged sword with a narrow pointed blade, designed especially for thrusting. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, "the long rapier was beautifully balanced, excellent in attack, and superb for keeping an opponent at a distance." The word itself, which we borrowed in the 16th century, is from Middle French rapiere. The first time that rapier was used as an adjective in its figurative "cutting" sense, it described a smile: "Who can bear a rapier smile? A kiss that dooms the soul to death?" ("The Lover's Lament" by Sumner Lincoln Fairfield, 1824). The adjective these days most commonly describes wit—an association that dates to the 1850s.