There’s a story behind the piece below, Chopin’s “Heroic” Polonaise, performed by Vladimir Horowitz, the pianist most people deem to be the world’s top interpreter of Chopin.
Frederic Chopin was born in 1810 near Warsaw, Poland, and was known as a child prodigy as a pianist and composer by the time he was six or seven.
Russia had long ruled Poland, but in the 1820s, Russian rule grew more arbitrary, and secret societies were formed by Polish intellectuals in several cities to plot an insurrection. In November 1830, Polish troops in Warsaw rose in revolt.
Chopin moved to Paris shortly after his 22nd birthday, where he would spend the rest of his life composing, teaching, and concertizing, but his love for his native land remained fierce.
But what could he do? Chopin was a small and sickly person, barely five feet tall, perhaps 90 pounds in weight. He certainly couldn’t be a physical part of an uprising, but he could inspire his native Poles with his compositions.
There are a few good examples of his works along these lines, but the Heroic polonaise stands by itself. When I hear it, a single word comes to fore: bravery.
Enjoy, and don’t be embarrassed if you have goosebumps.
A couple of months ago, I happened to ask a friend who had emigrated from Sweden if she was religious. “No!” she exclaimed. “Almost no one in Sweden is religious.”
As we see at left, there seems to be a huge correlation between atheism and the national level of happiness. But what causes that?
Are believers unhappy people for some reason? That doesn’t make sense.
Here’s my two-fold theory. Atheists believe:
a) That we only live once, so we try to enjoy it while we can.
And, more importantly,
b) That we need to take care of one another (since there is no God). We’re willing to make sacrifices if that means things like great education, universal healthcare, environmental responsibility, tolerable working conditions, and near-zero poverty.
Renewable Energy
From the Independent: “Trump Administration to Pay Two More Companies to Walk Away from U.S. Offshore Wind Leases”
From this article in The Independent:
The Trump administration announced two more payouts Monday for energy companies to walk away from U.S. offshore wind projects under development.
Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind have agreed to end their offshore wind leases in exchange for reimbursements totaling nearly $900 million. Both companies have decided not to pursue any new offshore wind projects in the United States, the Interior Department announced Monday.
Bluepoint Wind is an offshore wind project in the early stages of development off the coasts of New Jersey and New York, while Golden State Wind is a floating offshore wind project proposed off California’s central coast.
Trump is hellbent on destroying the renewable energy industry so as to benefit his billionaire friends in fossil fuels.
He’s on course to be remembered as the most destructive person in world history, with the possible exception of Adolph Hitler.
What is said here about Pete Hegseth is clearly true.
But keep in mind that he’s fiercely loyal to Donald Trump, and Trump couldn’t possibly care what happens to the United States, as long as he can stay out of prison and enrich himself and his family.
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