Jon Timowski has been described as a social media "troll." In internet slang, a troll is a person who stirs the pot by purposely starting arguments, angering social media users, or posting inflammatory comments solely to provoke an emotional reaction from others. "How do I respond to being called a troll? I really don't," said Timowski, 40, of Lowell. "It is and has been very typical, and telling, for the left to lash out to name calling." Though he disregards such disparaging labels from his critics, Timowski views our polarized country as left versus right, liberals versus conservatives, Democrats versus Republicans. In his personal world, "snowflakes" have nothing to do with winter storms and everything to do with political storms. In internet slang, the word snowflake is used by conservatives or Republicans to mock liberals or describe Democrats who feel they're unique when they're anything but unique. Another insulting connotation refers to snowflakes easily melting when confronted by opposing views. It's an overused insult, I say, even pass at this point. Like most social media users, Timowski is convinced about his political and ideological convictions, which have become heightened since President Trump has been on the scene. Timowksi also is … Continue reading →

The Chiostro Del Bramante, a cloister-turned-gallery in the heart of Rome, is currently presenting Jean-Michel Basquiat: New York City a generous selection of work spanning the short, but immensely prolific, career of this extraordinary artist. The extensive exhibition includes nearly one hundred significant works on loan from the Mugrabi Collection, which includes acrylics and oils, as well as drawings, silkscreen prints, and ceramics completed between the years of 1981 and 1987. Born in Brooklyn, New York to a Haitian father and Puerto Rican mother, Basquiats stunning and breathtakingly rapid ascent to fame and stardom was paralleled by few, if any, other artists in the twentieth century. At Sothebys recently, Basquiats painting of a skull, Untitled (1982) sold for $110.5 million a record price for an American painter, placing him in the art history pantheon alongside Pablo Picasso and Francis Bacon. We can be pleased that Yusaku Maezawa, the Japanese billionaire who bought the painting, intends to share his taste for art with the public. However, if we are to truly approach these works at all, it is necessary to get beyond the din of the market the screeching vultures as the late John Berger puts it and give our attention … Continue reading →

What the hell just happened? The Guardians Richard Adams attempts to make sense of the shock UK election outcome. The UK election result is the biggest upset of conventional wisdom since, well, last November. After Trump, the Brexit referendum, Leicester City winning the premier league and the 2015 UK general election result youd think wed be getting used to this. But no. The Conservative partys decision to call a snap election has backfired: rather than winning the comfortable-to-huge majority predicted, the Tories have instead gone backwards. The party has held enough seats to govern in coalition with Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist party but it was a miserable effort in almost every other respect. Nervous and ill-advised, Theresa May achieved the unthinkable: winning more than 42% of the popular vote but losing a swathe of seats in England. (In 2005 Tony Blair won 35% of the vote but a solid majority of MPs.) Labour under Jeremy Corbyn got around 40% and gained more than 30 seats. The Tories piled up wasted votes in safe seats and failed to go beyond their comfort zone to win votes in London and the east of England. And that in a nutshell is why May … Continue reading →