I've been teaching my students words like "coup" and "putsch" and "astroturf". I have never hidden my politics at school*, and have had many discussions on wars being prosecuted, on Black Lives Matter protests, on gender and sexuality, and so on. But this is so freighted with history. With our Plague Year and with this storming of the Capitol ( Read more... )

First week of this school year -- if you can call three half-days a week -- is over, and it was really nice. That's always the case for the first couple of weeks until my less than stellar classroom management cues a few students in to the fact that they can be lax as fuck. Sigh. However, it was still a really nice first week, one of the most ( Read more... )

... I mean, I feel like what is there to say that anyone who is decent and non-racist has not said already: Trump's racism (and it's not even dogwhistles; it's just explicit racist provocations to his base) supports, encourages, prods, and gives cover to white supremacist terrorists. Add to that misogynist haters of women. When I was little, ( Read more... )

Day 12: How can we reestablish poverty as an evil to be combated in US society?Part of me wants to say by creating a Marvel comics (or whomever; I am not an aficionado, here) superhero aimed at that, with a movie series. Convert IronMan or something; those movies are snarky enough ( Read more... )

This time I took the first topic offered. I may have written about this before, but too bad, here I go again ( Read more... )

This question makes me remember wouldprefernot2's answer on some three-peat meme, to "three things you'd like to see" -- he had a very beautifully articulated (as when did he not) response involving a world-historical defeat for the US that didn't involve religious nuts. What two things do I want ( Read more... )

Or something like wish I could say but won't. Again, wtf? No. If I want to say something, I will say it, unless it could get me fired. Hm. Maybe there is something to that -- are there things I would like to say, but cannot because I need to keep my job ( Read more... )

I feel like I am posting everything I have even vaguely thought of all summer. This one will be a continuation of family history photos. The next one will be on Hindi and matters subcontinental, cultural and otherwise ( Read more... )

A friend from Chicago -- a former LJer, in fact -- oblomova, whom I miss quite a lot... anyway, she posted a Happy May Day on Facebook, and talked about the Haymarket anarchists, their graves, and Emma Goldman and Ben Reitman's graves, out at what was, when I was little and went there several times on family outings, Waldheim Cemetery. Apparently now they ( Read more... )

And, the women.

Madeleine L'Engle

Ursula K. LeGuin

Nancy Farmer

In my mind, Madeleine L'Engle goes well with C. S. Lewis. I can't get beyond her religion and her politics to appreciate her as a writer. I mean, I've read most of her stuff... not being able to forgive authors for their politics and their religious ... evangelism... doesn't stop ( Read more... )