“Come to the edge,’ he said. ‘We are afraid,’ they said. ‘Come to the edge, he said,’ and slowly, reluctantly, they came. He pushed them and they flew.” ― Guillaume Appolinaire   Guillaume Appolinaire from his book of caligrams The form is part of the message in French writer Guillaume Apollinaire’s “caligrams”, in which the shape of the words on the page and the font and type create meaning. Apollinaire wrote erotica, phantasms and proclamations. He was a poet, polemicist, self-publicist, playwright, librettist, artist, traveller, soldier and carouser. A central figure of various artistic -isms that were thriving in Paris in the early 20th Century, he became the living spirit of the city’s avant-garde on the eve of the Great War. And owing to his charm and desire to communicate with everyone and not simply the elite and knowing, as is the way with so much art and literature they label ‘important’, his legacy is perhaps best illustrated through his experimental, highly stylistic and accessible caligrams. Apollinaire explains: The Calligrammes are an idealisation of free verse poetry and typographical precision in an era when typography is reaching a brilliant end to its career, at the dawn of the new means of reproduction that are the cinema and the phonograph. (Guillaume Apollinaire, in a letter to André Billy) Many of his designs appear in Calligrammes; poèmes de la paix et da la guerre, 1913-1916 (Poems of Peace and War 1913-1916), a book published a year after his death.   Il Pleut by Guillaume Appolinaire Guillaume Apollinaire Born in Rome to Polish noblewoman Angélique Alexandrine de Kostrowitzky, who had taken refuge in the papal court, Apollinaire (August 26, 1880 – November 9, 1918) was baptised as Guillaume Albert Wladimir Alexandre Apollinaire de Kostrowitzky. At the time, the identity of this father was unknown – his friend Pablo Picasso would joke that Apollinaire was the son of the Pope himself. His father was decades later identified as one Francesco Flugi d’Aspermont. After working as a bank clerk in Paris, he became friends with many avant-garde artists, including Picasso, Georges Braque, Henri Rousseau and Marcel Duchamp. He became, what one critic called, “an agitator for art, writing with boundless enthusiasm in favour of the works of the coming generation”. He published fiction and poetry, and edited a number of avant-garde literary journals, in which he championed the work of artists and writers, including Braque, Giorgio de Chirico, Marie Laurencin (with whom he had a love affair), Picasso and Gertrude Stein: Apollinaire exhorted Henri Matisse, at a time when his work was being condemned as “a pot of paint flung in the public’s face” – “People look at you and see a monster when there is, in fact, a miracle”… He discovered Henri Rousseau [ …]  and was among the first to publicise and celebrate the work, and verve, of Marinetti and his Futurists. He arranged the first ever solo exhibition of the magical Russian folk-painter Marc Chagall. His first books of verse were illustrated with woodcuts by the Fauvists Andre Derain and Raoul Dufy. He acted as a mentor to Blaise Cendrars and Marcel Duchamp… And there was his erotic fiction: The Cheap Little Hole, The 11,000 Rods or The Amorous Adventures of Prince Mony Vibescu, Memoirs of a Young Rakehell and The Debauched Hospodar (sample: “as soon as she had let go of his balls the prince hurled himself upon her”). In Les exploits d’un jeune Don Juan (The Exploits of a Young Don Juan, 1911, a 15-year-old impregnates three women, one of them his own aunt. In 1913 the writer published the punctuation-free book Alcools, his first major collection of poetry, with Picasso’s Portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire reproduced as a frontispiece. (An avid advocate of the young Picasso in Paris, Apollinaire received dozens of the artist’s works as gifts.)   Alcools – with a portrait of the writer by Pablo Picasso   Guillaume Apollinaire, ‘The Tie and the Watch’ In 1914, he joined the military and fought for France in World War 1. His war ended in 1916 when shrapnel wounded his temple. It was during his recovery that he coined the term  “sur-realism” in the programme notes for Jean Cocteau’s and Erik Satie’s ballet Parade. He also coined the term “cubism” in his preface to the catalogue for the 8th salon of the cercle d’art, Les Indépendants in Brussels in 1911, and was one of the first critics to define the foundations of Cubism in his essay Les peintres cubistes (The Cubist Painters, 1913). In 1917 he delivered the lecture “L’esprit nouveau et les poetes”, a manifesto for art in which he called for total invention and full surrender to inspiration. Shortly before Apollinaire died of Spanish flu in 1918, author Jacques Vache wrote to Andre Breton, the leader of the Surrealist movement: “[Apollinaire] marks an epoch. The beautiful things we can do now!”   Photograph of Guillaume Apollinaire soldier in spring 1916 after his shrapnel wound to the temple. The post Guillaume Apollinaire’s Trailblazing Caligrams, 1913 appeared first on Flashbak.

Festive cookie tins are a common sight in stores during the holiday season, but this offering at Costco is rubbing customers the wrong way. Here's why.

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Elon Musk has called for the EU to be “abolished” and sovereignty returned to the individual countries. Musk made the comments in a series of posts on X after the bloc fined his social media [...] The post Elon Musk Says The EU Must Be Abolished appeared first on The People's Voice.

Churches are not the only institutions that view baptisms as a stat line. After years of athletes giving their lives to the Lord, Baylor University has also started keeping count. Baylor athletes wear their faith on campus as proudly as the names on their jerseys. “There’s not very many schools across the country that have a competitive athletics program that combine that with a faith-based mission within the school,” Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson told The Daily Wire. “Fortunately, Baylor is one of those schools that does that.” The largest Baptist school in the country has baptized hundreds of athletes in the last five years alone. Credit: Baylor Athletics “Being able to be a part of the athletes’ lives and their spiritual journey is one of the coolest things about working at Baylor,” Head Basketball Coach Scott Drew told The Daily Wire. Drew has been at Baylor since 2003, so he’s seen many lives changed. “We have close to 26 campus ministries. The local churches are packed with Baylor students on Wednesday night. At Sunday church service … there’s probably 500 to 1,000 college kids every service I’m there. At the end of the day, it’s because we have great leadership at Baylor University.” The football team’s faith took the spotlight this season when 10 players were baptized by teammates. Moments Like This Last Forever. Last night, 10 of our own took the next step in their faith through baptism ?⬇️ pic.twitter.com/U9U6GNRe0x — Baylor Football (@BUFootball) November 5, 2025   Robertson, who leads the team on the field, helped baptize some of the players, including his former receiver, whom Robertson baptized before Thanksgiving. Last night, Monaray Baldwin returned home to Waco and publicly declared his faith in Jesus Christ through baptism. #SicEm pic.twitter.com/MmGLI3lCvO — Baylor Football (@BUFootball) November 26, 2025   “How it normally goes is when a player decides that they want to get baptized and give their life to Jesus, they get to decide who baptizes them. So it just happened that three guys wanted me to do it. That’s not something you turn down.” Robertson also baptized Nate Bennett, his backup quarterback. Credit: Baylor Athletics “He’s awesome,” Robertson said. “He’s like a little brother to me, and he would get mad if I said that, but I only say that because he’s younger than me, so I think I’m allowed to say that, but I love him so much.” The baptisms are part of a player-led Bible. About 5-6 small groups meet on Tuesdays to study a video series put together by a teammate. This semester, it was organized by a safety on the team, Michael Allen. The team studied the book of Genesis and looked at Joseph’s life. Robertson said a lot of the team related to this one, which may be why it was the largest group they’ve had commit their lives to Jesus. 50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at DailyWire.com/cyberweek. “Joseph is sold by his brothers because they were jealous of him. Then he gets accused of something that he didn’t do, and gets thrown in prison for two years, and then he eventually always works his way up to second in command of Egypt. The guys are just like, ‘How did he stay the course? This is incredible.'” Robertson calls leading the Bible study a “calling.” For some players, the football team’s Bible study may be the first one they’ve been part of. “That’s been definitely the most fruitful thing,” the quarterback continued. “You can kind of tell based off the questions that are getting asked when you break off into small groups. People have said they had no clue this was a thing, like they didn’t know about this.” I interviewed @BUFootball Quarterback, Sawyer Robertson, on the recent player-lead baptisms. 10 Baylor Football players were baptized at the end of their Bible study. Story Sunday on @realDailyWire. pic.twitter.com/Nnmf5ca13K — Lynden Blake (@LyndenBlake) December 5, 2025 The Bible studies are held anywhere there’s room at the athletic complex, including team meeting rooms and locker rooms. The same goes for baptisms. Coach Drew has baptized so many of his players over his 23 years in Waco — sometimes right on the court — that the team now has a baptism wall honoring all the players who have dedicated themselves to Christ. Credit: Baylor Athletics “Our chaplain baptized five players on the way down to the University of Texas,” Drew said with a laugh. “We’re versatile.” Thankfully for current athletes at Baylor, the days of bringing a cold tub to center court for baptisms are over. The Bears have new athletic facilities, which include a large, warm therapy tub. Some say it’s perfect for baptisms. “It works quite well,” Robertson added. “All the other guys that are part of the player-led Bible study, there’s about 30 to 40 people now, and they’re cheering and applauding, it’s just encouraging.” Credit: Baylor Athletics As you walk around campus, you notice Bible verses everywhere. The basketball team attends a chapel before every home game. Coach Drew calls it a “Christian atmosphere” that leaves an impact on players long after they’ve graduated. “I keep some of the letters from past players,” Drew said. “Whenever you’re having a really bad day, or you’re like, why do we do what we do, you pull out one of those letters, and it makes it all worthwhile.” Robertson’s relationship with God keeps him grounded through the grind of being a college athlete. “I want to be as successful as possible, but at the end of the day, if my relationship with the Lord isn’t right, then none of what I do on Earth matters,” he says. “At the end of the day, like it’s got to be my foundation, and I’ve got to make that the priority of my life.” Before games, the quarterback reads 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” “I like thinking about that one before games because it kind of like relaxes me and takes the pressure off, even though I know there’s a lot of people watching. Just going out there and not having any fear of it and just playing, playing to honor God, really, it relieves some of that pressure.” The 22-year-old also lives by Mark 8:36: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” “It’s not all about likes and popularity and attention,” Robertson adds. “But seeking something that’s actually like true and like what can I put my identity in.” If you Google Scott Drew, you’ll see how the world views the veteran coach. He’s a National Championship coach and a three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year. Accolades he’s beyond proud of. But Drew said the only winning that lasts is winning eternity. “One day I’ll get to heaven and see a bunch of Baylor Bears up there,” he says. “People we had a chance to help grow spiritually.”

United States Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz says President Donald Trump is directing him to steer the group back to its original mission: peace. In an interview with the Daily Wire editor-in-chief Brent Scher, Waltz laid out how his new role at the United Nations advances President Trump’s unapologetic America First approach to international diplomacy in a body that he claims has been ineffective. “You’re supposed to be stopping wars, ending wars, preventing wars,” Waltz said. “That was the establishment of the UN and its purpose after World War II to prevent any other future world wars. And yet here we are 80 years later and we have more conflicts around the globe than ever.” While critics have advocated that the United States abandon the UN, Waltz said the organization can be salvaged if it implements the reforms at the top of his agenda. According to Waltz, the UN is a mechanism to get other countries to start “pulling their weight” to establish peace. As an example, he cited the efforts to combat the gangs in Haiti, shifting from a primarily United States-led effort to include other countries such as Kenya. “Sharing the burden and having a mechanism where everyone can come in and do that is also important,” he said. “We’ve just got to get it back focused on those peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions that they did so well in the past and that they strayed from in recent decades.” Waltz also stressed that certain UN agencies and programs need to be defunded when they do not align with American interests. “We walked away from WHO, the World Health Organization. UNRWA, the UN agency in Gaza that’s been completely infiltrated by Hamas. We walked out of it and defunded that too. The so-called human rights councils that cater to countries like North Korea and Venezuela and Iran. We’ve walked away from that,” he said. “It’s really about focusing our effort on the parts that align with an America First agenda and defunding and walking away from the rest of it — the nonsense.” Waltz added that there are also far too many UN agencies focused on climate change. “At most you need one, if not none, but you definitely don’t need seven. So that’s the kind of reform agenda that we’re driving here. We’re defunding all kinds of these agencies again, led by the president with an America First agenda,” Waltz said. Among the agencies he believes are essential, he cited telecommunications, global shipping, and civil aviation. “When I land, when flying internationally, I want everybody speaking English,” he said. “Landing the planes the same way, the mechanics train the same way. We want them aligned with our standards, not China or Russia’s standards.” Overall, Waltz emphasized the UN’s importance as a platform for countries to discuss diplomacy. “We should have one place in the world where everybody can talk, where everyone can come together and at least try to hammer things out with using diplomacy, either to end wars or prevent wars,” he said. “ I want that American-led and in the United States, not in places like Beijing or Moscow. But I’m 100% on board. We’ve got to clean house.” Of the successes so far under the Trump administration, Waltz says the UN agreed to cut over 2,600 bureaucratic positions, a 15% overall budget cut, and 25% of its peacekeepers around the world. “So we’re cutting, we’re DOGE-ing, we’re going to get them back to basics in line with the president’s vision.” “They need to get back to basics, stop with all of the other nonsense, trying to do everything for everybody all over the world. Stop with the focus on climate, stop with the focus on gender and all of these other social issues, regardless of how you feel about them, and let’s get back to peace,” Waltz said. 50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at DailyWire.com/cyberweek. Waltz said a major focus is ensuring that the United Nations does more to stop the persecution of Christians around the world. “Well, it actually started with President Trump, who put a spotlight on the persecution of Christians around the world, but according to most NGOs, 80% of Christians that are killed and persecuted actually happens in Nigeria,” he said. Waltz praised rapper Nicki Minaj for advocating to stop the persecution of Christians in Nigeria alongside him in the UN last month. Thrilled to be Honorary Ambassador to the Barbz! @NICKIMINAJ pic.twitter.com/Sq9OHYhaZu — Ambassador Mike Waltz (@michaelgwaltz) November 19, 2025 “Someone like her, with her quarter billion followers across all of our platforms. It’s an unlikely pairing. I didn’t see that one coming, but where we can work together to not just put a spotlight and educate people but to make sure there’s real action.” Waltz acknowledged that representing the United States at the UN can be challenging, given the presence of adversarial countries, including an incident in which the Cuban ambassador disrupted one of his speeches and accused him of lying. “There are times where I think the tribes in the Middle East, Afghanistan are easier than here,” Waltz said. “I’m a Green Beret by background. I’ve served all over the world. It isn’t easy. My wife sometimes says I’m a masochist, but look, this is the world stage right here in New York.”

'The most accomplished and renowned class of Kennedy Center Honorees ever assembled'