Tears - nalan's paintings

Tears - nalan's paintings Delve into the emotive depths of "Tears," an original oil and mixed media abstract painting by the talented Nalan Laluk. This medium-sized piece, measuring 40 cm in length and 50 cm in height, is a testament to the artist's unique vision, skillfully blending enamel, ink, and canvas to create a multifaceted artwork. The use of vivid colours and bold brush strokes imbues the piece with a sense of movement and life, making it a striking centrepiece for any gallery or living space. Crafted in the UK and signed by Laluk, "Tears" is a contemporary work from 2025, reflecting the artist's experimental approach to abstract landscape subjects. This piece is unframed, allowing the buyer the freedom to choose the perfect frame that complements their decor. It is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity, ensuring its originality and value as a collector's item. With its blend of modern style and personal handcrafted touch, "Tears" is a singularly impactful work

Peaks - nalan's paintings

Peaks - nalan's paintings  Capturing the essence of modern abstraction, "Peaks" is an original mixed media painting by the talented Nalan Laluk. This piece, steeped in the rich traditions of Post-Impressionism and Modernism, interprets the vibrant energy of cityscapes and landscapes through a captivating array of colours and textures. Executed on canvas with oil painting techniques, "Peaks" is a one-of-a-kind artwork that stands as a testament to the artist's unique vision. Measuring 50 cm in length, 40 cm in height, and 2 cm in width, this medium-sized painting will make a striking addition to any contemporary space. Each brushstroke tells a story, with Laluk's signature adding authenticity and originality. The painting is unframed, providing the flexibility to match any decor. A Certificate of Authenticity, issued by the artist, ensures the buyer is acquiring a genuine piece of art.

Manifest Destiny and Trump

[Image: "American Progress" by John Gast, 1872]

The term "Manifest Destiny" describes the belief of many 19th century Americans that they were destined to rule the North American continent; that they had a "divine right" to dominate the lands between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The idea, if not the term, was unabashedly imperialist but even today, many political commentators seem to shy away from calling US expansion "imperialist." Donald Trump is a firm believer in Manifest Destiny, even if he knows little if anything of its history.

The phrase "Manifest Destiny" came into use after 1845, when newspaper editor and expansionist advocate John O'Sullivan used it. The timing was not coincidental. The US was in the process of annexing Texas, which had gained independence from Mexico in 1836. The US would soon be at war with Mexico, a war that was driven by expansionist ambitions. 

The plunder included what are now the states of California, Arizona, and New Mexico, and parts of Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. Some expansionists, including Jane Cazneau, who used the term "manifest destiny" before O'Sullivan, advocated the annexation of the rest of Mexico. 

That never happened, mainly because Manifest Destiny was a thoroughly racist ideology. It envisioned an American empire made up of white Europeans (plus their African slaves). Mexico was inhabited by large numbers of Native Americans (AKA "Indians") and people of mixed race who could not be part of the divine American mission.

The same thinking operates today. Trump has never spoken of annexing Mexico, because it is full of the sort of "criminal" and "inferior" people he claims are threatening the US. He has, however, repeatedly spoken of a US annexation of Canada, a predominately European white country. 

Advocates of manifest destiny also viewed Canada as a an area ripe for US expansion. Some expansionists demanded that Great Britain cede all of the Northwest Oregon Territory up to the border of Alaska. |Their cry was "54-40 or Fight". War threatened in 1846 but was avoided when the two countries agreed to a border on the 49th parallel. The peaceful resolution was partly due to the fact that the US was about to embark on the war against Mexico. To fight the British Empire at the same time would have been foolhardy. Of course, no one consulted the Native Americans who lived in the region.

Although the term "Manifest Destiny" emerged during the 1840s, the idea was expressed much earlier in American history, indeed at the very birth of the nation. It was annunciated clearly by William Henry Drayton of South Carolina in 1776. In that year, Cherokee bands attacked European settlers encroaching on their lands in the upcountry of the Carolinas and Virginia. The war that followed ended in a crushing defeat for the Cherokee. Many of their towns were destroyed, and they lost much of their historic land.

Drayton, a fervent advocate of American independence, viewed the war as an opportunity. At the time, he was serving as the Chief Justice of the newly independent state South Carolina. Drayton proposed that the defeated Cherokee be "extirpated" as a nation, that their lands "become the property of the American public," and that captives "become the property of the taker."

Drayton declared that the new nation had a divine mission. God had chosen the "American Empire" as his tool to advance the cause of liberty. The Lord had previously chosen Britain for this mission, but the British government had violated divine intentions by "trying to enslave the American people." Like other "Patriot" slaveholders, Drayton failed to see the irony in his own rhetoric. 

In his role as Chief Justice, Drayton also recommended the suspension of due process. A state court charged fourteen "Tories" with treason and sentenced them to death. Their "crime" had been fighting with the Cherokee against the new independent states. Drayton commented that he would have hanged them without a trial, thus advocating what soon became known as "lynching." The sitting "President" of South Carolina, John Rutledge, pardoned them. 

During the War for Independence, partisans on both sides employed lynchings. Nowhere was it more common than the backcountry of South Carolina. Among those lynched were blacks who supported the British, something Rutledge did support. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, blacks became the main victims of lynchings. 

Drayton may not have used the term "manifest destiny" but his statements and actions show that the idea a divine mission was present from the infancy of the American Republic. The popularity of his ideas and methods was an unfortunate omen for the new nation. 

Like Trump, Drayton employed populist rhetoric to convey his ideas of a divine mission to the public. Trump doesn't use the term "manifest destiny" either, but he is echoing when he says that Greenland and Canada should belong to the US. It is also noteworthy that Trump has not threatened to annex Mexico, because it is supposedly inhabited by the sort of "bad people," he has sworn to deport from the USA. In doing so, he is aligning the country with the imperialists of the nineteenth century.

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The US Constitution: A More Perfect Union?

"The Constitution in Danger!" is a cry we hear constantly now, and it is no overreaction. The illegitimate fascist Trump regime violates the document on a daily basis. What is too often overlooked is that the constitution itself contains weaknesses and loopholes that allowed someone like Trump to come to power and act with disregard for the law. 

For too long people believed, or said, that the constitution would protect us against such an outcome. Separation of powers, the courts, Congress -- all have failed to do what they were designed to do, provide checks on unbridled power. The 14th amendment should have prevented Trump from even running for president, for inciting the January 6 insurrection. Many people believed it would, including yours truly. We can blame greed, corruption, bigotry, stupidity, treachery or fear, but those are things the constitution is supposed to guard against: human failings.

I grew up learning that the "Founding Fathers" were supremely wise men who drew up a "more perfect" constitution for the new United States in 1787. Leaving aside the problematic nature of the phrase "more perfect," how perfect was it? The present situation of the USA indicates some major imperfections.

One of its goals, obviously, was to cement the union of the former colonies, now states. The new constitution was an improvement in that sense on the country's first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, drawn up during the War for Independence. The Articles gave the states too much power and the central government too little. But the improvement made by the new constitution didn't prevent the secession of eleven "Confederate States" in 1860-61, leading to a bloody civil war, and 600,000 battle deaths.   

The main reason for that tragedy was the failure of the Founding Fathers to solve the problem of slavery. Many of them were disturbed by the existence of slavery in a country that famously proclaimed human equality and liberty in its Declaration of Independence. But nearly half of the delegates also "owned" people, including George Washington and James Madison, who wrote the first drafts of the Constitution. Their handling the slave issue reminds one of St. Augustine's oft-quoted line, "Lord, make me chaste, but not yet."

The framers agreed to end the African slave trade, but not until 1807. The horrors of the Middle Passage continued legally for twenty more years, and to some extent illegally afterwards. A fugitive "labor" clause required that the enslaved who escaped to another state must be returned their "rightful owners." The words "slave" and "slavery" were not used in the Constitution. The framers avoided them, believing that they would sully the document. But what was there was sullying enough. 

The infamous 3/5ths clause allowed states to count the enslaved as 3/5ths of a person for purposes of representation, a concession that gave the southern states more representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College than they should have had. Thus the legitimacy of slavery was enshrined into the Constitution and the spread of slavery into new states became a contentious issue until the Civil War.

Democracy was another thorny issue the makers of the Constitution had to confront. They wanted to prevent it, not promote it. They feared it. Democracy, they believed, led to chaos, tyranny, and expropriation of the wealthy (people like themselves). 

The Constitution they designed contained several sections designed to minimize popular influence in politics. It provided that Senators be elected by state legislatures, and that presidents be elected by an "Electoral College" chosen by the same bodies. Voters chose the members of the House of Representatives, but who were the voters? 

All of the states placed various restrictions on voting such as poll taxes or literacy tests. Women were excluded from voting until 1919. The enslaved could technically vote after 1865, but were often prevented legally and illegally from exercising it for nearly a century afterwards.   

Many of the anti-democratic provisions of 1787 such as those above have been reversed by amendments to the Constitution. But not entirely. All eligible voters can now vote for president. But it is not the popular vote that decides the winner: It's the undemocratic Electoral College of 1787. Twice in this young century the winner of the popular vote has failed to win the presidency.  

Senators, too, are now elected by popular vote. But the Senate remains a fundamentally undemocratic body. The Constitution provided that each state could elect two senators. That was a concession to the smaller states, who feared being dominated by the larger ones if the Senate was based on population, as the House of Representatives was. Thus, we have the absurdity that Wyoming with a little over 500,000 people, and California with 39 million, both elect two senators.  

The House of Representatives is theoretically democratic, but the distribution of House seats is often skewed undemocratically by gerrymandering the borders of electoral districts. This done by the parties who control the state legislatures. Various attempts to restrict certain voters from voting make things even worse. 

The opposition to the Trump presidency stresses its commitment to "Save Democracy." I fully support that. But we should acknowledge that we are working with an imperfect constitution, and its imperfections have paved the way for an aspiring fascist dictatorship. We should be calling for a movement to "Create Democracy."  

In 1787 a member of the public allegedly asked delegate Ben Franklin what the framers had created. "A republic, if you can keep it," Franklin replied. Notably, Franklin did not say a "democracy." Today, we should be saying that our goal is "a democracy, if we can make it."

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Around the Palace - nalan's paintings -- SOLD!

Around the Palace - nalan's paintings

The product is an original mixed media painting signed by artist Nalan Laluk, titled "Around the Palace". Completed in 2025, the contemporary artwork features a multi-color palette and measures 30cm x 40cm. This one-of-a-kind piece combines elements of abstract, impressionism, and modernism, using techniques such as oil painting and acrylic on canvas. The artwork is unframed, signed by the artist, and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, making it a unique and collectible item for art enthusiasts.

Glasgow - nalan's paintings

Glasgow - nalan's paintings

This original mixed media oil painting titled "Glasgow" is a contemporary artwork created by artist Nalan Laluk in 2025. Measuring 40cm in height and 40cm in width, this landscape piece features a vibrant multi-colour palette capturing the essence of a cityscape. Handmade using oil on canvas, the painting is signed by the artist and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity issued by the artist. The artwork showcases a blend of Contemporary Art and Impressionist styles, making it a unique and one-of-a-kind piece ideal for art enthusiasts looking to add a touch of colour and urban flair to their collection.

The New Declaration of Independence: From Trump

 

The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is fast approaching. The present dire state of the USA indicates that a new declaration is needed, against Trump and Trumpism. The original declaration of 1776 blamed George III for the conflict. Much if not most of the blame in fact lay with Parliament, but focusing on the king made the argument for independence simpler: a free people versus a tyrant. So, today let's KISS again. (Keep it Simple Stupid). 

The original Declaration of Independence, in the part few read today, listed a long series "repeated injuries and usurpations" designed to establish "an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world." 

The New Declaration of Independence from Trump and Trumpism, should contain a similar list of the injuries and usurpations he and his toadies have inflicted on the USA. I propose something like the following:

He has made enemies of all traditional allies and friends.

He has repeatedly violated the Constitution, the laws, and the legal system.

He has violated international norms of diplomacy and human rights.

He has comforted the comfortable and afflicted the afflicted.

He is destroying one of the strongest economies on earth.

He has violated the norms of human morality.

He has brought the USA into global contempt.

He has praised and assisted the enemies of human freedom, decency, and democracy.

He is a felon, guilty of bribery and rape, probably tax evasion, extortion, and other crimes. 

He is destroying the fabric of American institutions, including the legal system and those designed to advance education, health, and the general welfare. 

He has attacked and is attacking freedom of speech, opinion, and assembly. 

He golfs while the country burns.

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