The Rogovoy Report 11.4.24

From around the corner to around the globe...

Nov 03, 2024

The Unique Danger of a Trumpist Oligarchy

(The Atlantic) by Franklin Foer - The Trumpist oligarchy that is taking shape is far different from the post-Soviet strain. What makes it distinct is that Trump is entering into a partnership with the most powerful technologists in the world. But the core problem of oligarchy is the same. The symbiotic relationship between a corrupt leader and a business elite always entails the trading of favors. The regime does the bidding of the billionaires and, in turn, the billionaires do the bidding of the regime. Power grows ever more concentrated as the owners and the corrupt leaders conspire to protect their mutual hold on it. In short order, this arrangement has the potential to deliver a double blow to the American system: It could undermine capitalism and erode democracy all at once.

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We are witnessing the making of a fascist president in real time, by Sidney Blumenthal (The Guardian)

What makes Trump a fascist? by Michael Meeropol (WAMC)

Political violence in US could surge after elections, experts warn (The Guardian)

Wanna Take a Guess Who Trump-Backing Businessmen Sound Like? Hint: The great German industrialists of the 1930s found Adolf Hitler crude. But they disliked democracy and taxes and regulation far more. (TNR)

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‘WITHIN YOU WITHOUT YOU’

Seth Rogovoy's ‘George Harrison’ Shines Light in the Darkness

(Chronogram) by Robert Burke Warren - During the 58 years George Harrison lived in what he called “the material world,” he cut a singular, winding path, and Seth Rogovoy has expertly researched much of it, pulling quite a compelling tale from the shadows. The further he takes us from the drama of the Beatle years, the more George Harrison comes into focus as a visionary artist in his own right: a man who loved to pen a catchy song on which he could play slide guitar, but who also took great pleasure in sharing the light he’d found within himself and others. For those who want some reprieve from the darkness, Seth Rogovoy’s Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison brims with that light.

What Is Life Without George Harrison

(Culture Catch) by Gary Lucas - Within You Without You will send you back for some thrilling close listening to old Harrison favorites and songs possibly hitherto unknown to you. Either way, you can’t lose because George was indisputably his own man — and arguably one of the most creative forces ever to blaze a trail in popular metaphysics/music.... Within In You Without You is an essential document regarding the many-splendored musical world of George Harrison. Seth Rogovoy comes at the work from many different angles and leaves you breathless at times with his insights and explorations of George's creative efflorescence.

Seth Rogovoy to Read and Sign Copies of New George Harrison Book at The Chatham Bookstore this Sunday at 5pm

(CHATHAM, N.Y.) - Seth Rogovoy will read from and sign copies of his new book, Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison, at The Chatham Bookstore in Chatham on Sunday, November 3, at 5pm. The event will also include a conversation with Elena Siyanko, director of PS21: Center for Contemporary Performance in Chatham.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun’s “Self Portrait in Studio Costume,” from about 1800, is included in the gift

The Clark Receives ‘Princely’ Collection of European Treasures

(NYT) WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Museums are lucky if they receive either a large collection of valuable artworks or a big check. Getting both at the same time is rare. The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown has received the rare twofer gift from the Aso O. Tavitian Foundation: a trove of 331 works by revered European artists of the 15th through the 19th centuries — including Hans Memling, Peter Paul Rubens, Parmigianino, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Jean-Antoine Watteau and Gian Lorenzo Bernini — plus more than $45 million to build a new wing to house it all and care for it, and to fund a new curator’s position. “It’s an unbelievable thing that’s happening to the Clark,” the museum’s director, Olivier Meslay, said, adding that it was the “most transformational gift” since the founding bequest from the collectors Sterling and Francine Clark, for whom the museum is named. Read also, Clark Art Institute receives $45 million donation, 331 works of art from late philanthropist (Boston Globe)

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REVIEW: Sacred dance at PS21 (WAMC)

Berkshire Museum features maritime art alongside Homage to the Glacier: Works by Peter Bremers and James Schantz (iBerkshires)

REVIEW: ‘Music by John Williams’ captures the magic of the movies — and the maestro who scored them (Boston Globe)

Metroland Now hits the shelves, returning alternative press to Albany (ATU)

NEWS FROM THE BERKSHIRES

Consultants: Housatonic Water Works Has Negative Net Value of $31.3M

(Berkshire Edge) GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. - While the fair market value of Housatonic Water Works’ infrastructure is $2.3 million, if the town were to acquire the company’s infrastructure, it would have to invest at least $33 million in repairs, according to consultants from DPC Engineering LLC. A consultant said that the town outright purchasing the water company could also limit the town’s flexibility for future infrastructure needs, negatively impact its debt ceiling, and consume a significant portion of its bonding capacity.

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Southern Berkshire voters to choose first new state rep. in over 20 years on Election Day (WAMC)

They were lobbying on legislation before Richard Neal’s committee. They were also employing his son (Politico)

Environmental groups ask for additional risk assessment before Housatonic Rest of River remediation begins (Berkshire Edge)

After over 113 years, Gorham & Norton in Great Barrington to close at year’s end (B Edge)

Great Barrington Police Department obtains Vector Protective Barrier shields, a ‘non-aggression de-escalation tool’ (B Edge)

Restoration of historic stone manse at Great Barrington’s First Congregational Church completed (B Edge)

‘Rescue Berkshires Wildlife’ to hold meeting on SGARs, the rodenticides responsible for numerous secondary poisonings in wildlife and pets (B Edge)

Time-travel to Norman Rockwell’s Stockbridge: A new Red Lion Inn experience (Berkshire Eagle)

Williams College gets $105m in state bonding for WCMA, capital projects (iBerkshires)

Williams College looking to fill commercial space on Spring Street vacated by Spoon frozen yogurt shop (iBerkshires)

North Adams City Council formalizes support for West-East rail connection to Boston (WAMC)

In Pittsfield, three shootings in three days leave multiple people injured (Berkshire Edge)

Egremont election worker has been volunteering at the polls for 60 years (WBUR)

NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY

A Local’s Guide to Hudson in 2024

(Vogue) HUDSON, N.Y. - As a Hudsonian, when someone recently pronounced to me that the city was “cooling,” I was a little insulted. Sure, Hudson has been on the map for many years now, and its potential was fully recognized after the city exodus during the Covid boom — but today, it’s only continuing to heat up, being revived by artists, makers, restauranteurs, and shopkeepers — and now, an influx of creative city folk looking for greener pastures and a more peaceful lifestyle.

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’Wellness Hub’ with 35 permanent supportive housing units, 10 to 14 units of 120-day temporary housing, and roughly 20 emergency shelter units, planned for Greenport (HV360)

Hudson school fence death lawsuit gets trial date (ATU)

Hudson Good Cause Eviction signed into law (HV360)

Kingston lawmakers’ proposal would lower ‘affordable’ rent limits by hundreds of dollars (Daily Freeman)

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