France – brian mayer

Charlie Hebdo, Free Expression and the Freedom to Offend

Jan 7, 2015

Apologists, Barack Obama, Charlie Hebdo, Fascism, France, Islam, Islamists, Liberalism, Paris, Xenophobia

I was unusually proud of Obama today when I saw that he was making a full-throated defense of free expression in the wake of today’s savage attack of the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. It’s good to see Obama standing up for human rights, and more importantly for the core values of our civilization:…

Is Violent Revolution Worth It?

Dec 26, 2012

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Civil War, France, Freedom, Les Misérables, Power, Rebellion, Revolution, Soviet Russia, Victor Hugo, Violence, War

I saw Les Misérables tonight, and aside from it being an absolutely fantastic rendering of one of my favorite musicals, it got me to thinking about the role that revolution–particularly violent revolution–plays in our romantic and historical imagination. The main theme of Les Miz, for the uninitiated, is redemption, but the story also focuses on…

Brian is in the Kitchen

Jul 24, 2012

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America, Conversation, France, Hampton Court Palace, Hemingway, History, London, Paris, Port, Trains, Travel, Where is Brian

It was Thursday night and I found myself in the seizième arrondissement taking a video of my French friends taking a shot of Unicum for the first time. Their faces were distorted in pain, a look that any Unicum pusher knows so well and delights in. After our Unicum, we found ourselves at a bar at…

Liberte, Egalite in France?

Apr 11, 2011

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Burqa, France, Islam, Liberty, Veil

It’s happening in France today as it has happened across Europe. The steady declination of individual liberty and the overstepping authority of the state. It is not just an isolated incident anymore, but a pattern of invasion. The latest outrage is a new ban in France which went into effect today. Anyone caught wearing a…