V. V. M.

“After all, a library too is nothing else but a large (bigger or smaller) sewer of human spirit. A definition that I should note down for my future Nobel lecture.” – Yuri Andrukhovych, The Moscoviad

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V. V. M.

“This is the city of losses. It would be nice to level it. To plant again thick Finnish forests, introduce bears, elk, deer: let them graze around the moss-covered Kremlin ruins, let perches swim in its rivers and lakes returned to life, let wild bees focus on storing honey in the deepest fragrant tree cavities. This land needs a rest from its criminal capital. Perhaps then it will be capable of something good. Since it can’t go on forever poisoning the world with the bacilli of evil, oppression, and aggressive dumb destruction!” – Yuri Andrukhovych, The Moscoviad

Albrecht, Adam. Napoleon in burning Moscow. 1841.Albrecht, Adam. Napoleon in burning Moscow. 1841.

V. V. M.

The identity of a people and of a civilization is reflected and concentrated in what has been created by the mind—in what is known as “culture.” If this identity is threatened with extinction, cultural life grows correspondingly more intense, more important, until culture itself becomes the living value around which all people rally. – Milan Kundera, “The Tragedy of Central Europe.” New York Review of Books.

Raphael. The Parnassus. 1511. Fresco.
Raphael. The Parnassus. 1511. Fresco.

V. V. M.

“Love is an attempt to penetrate another being, but it can only be realized if the surrender is mutual. It is always difficult to give oneself up; few persons anywhere ever succed in doing so, and even fewer transcend the possessive stage to know love for what it actually is: a perpetual discovery, an immersion in the waters of reality, and an unending re-creation.” – Octavio Paz, The Labyrinth of Solitude

Gauguin, Paul. When Will You Marry? 1892. Oil on canvas..jpg
Gauguin, Paul. When Will You Marry? 1892. Oil on canvas.

A 58% Majority of Americans Say Abortion Should Be Legal by Hannah Hartig

V. V. M.

Abortion has long been a contentious issue in the U.S., and it is one that sharply divides Americans along partisan, ideological and religious lines.

Today, a 58% majority of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 37% think abortion should be illegalin all or most cases. These views are relatively unchanged in the past few years. The latest Pew Research Center political survey finds deep disagreement between – and within – the parties over abortion. In fact, the partisan divide on abortion is far wider than it was two decades ago.

By a wide margin (59% to 36%), Republicans say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.

Views among Democrats have shifted in the other direction over the past two decades. Today, 76% of Democrats say abortion should be legal in at least most cases.

Among Republicans, 58% of the party’s moderates and liberals say abortion should legal in all or most cases, compared with just 29% of conservative Republicans.

White evangelical Protestants continue to be opposed to abortion in all or most cases, with 61% saying it should be illegal in all or most cases, while 34% say it should be legal in at least most cases. The share of white evangelicals who say it should be illegal in all or most cases has dipped slightly since last year (from 70% in June 2017).

A large majority of white mainline Protestants (67%) also say abortion should be legal.

Among the public overall, there are no significant gender differences in views of whether abortion should be legal: 57% of men and 60% of women say it should be legal in most or all cases.

1989.4 Applewhite, J. Scott. Norma Mccorvey and Gloria Allred After Listening to Arguments in a Missouri Abortion Case. AP..jpg
Applewhite, J. Scott. Norma Mccorvey and Gloria Allred After Listening to Arguments in a Missouri Abortion Case. AP.