From We are the 1%, bitches The new “black is the new white” meme among Republicans is that low taxes are good–except if you’re one of those lazy freeloading 47% of Americans who don’t pay income taxes. Then you’re a grifter, and poor, and you’re not paying your fair share, and deserve contempt. This ignores [...]
Fri, October 14 2011 » Polis » No Comments
Ecology
“Attending to the language of my fellow human beings, I believe that many of them would never use the word “creator” but feel themselves very much included in the word “creation.” That something lies before us, a cosmos outside ourselves, makes us strangers to the world that is produced and administered and at home in [...]
Sun, October 9 2011 » Polis, Religion/Logos » No Comments
The Economic Equivalent of Terrorists
Andrew Sullivan is absolutely correct about the gun the Congressional Republicans are holding to the country’s (and the world’s) head: What you probably cannot do is negotiate with economic equivalent of terrorists. What Cantor and Boehner are doing is essentially letting the world know they have an economic WMD in their possession. And it will [...]
Sun, July 10 2011 » Polis » No Comments
Wed, April 13 2011 » Polis » No Comments
Blood, Trapped Under the Nail
About 6 weeks or so ago I slammed the porch door into my thumb while I was letting the dogs back in. Though the pain subsided after a few minutes, I’ve had since then a little demarcation of blood underneath my fingernail, pressed flat like a rose in the pages of a heavy book. Time [...]
Sun, February 6 2011 » Life Studies, Polis » No Comments
Trust Them
I’m sure many in the Democratic Establishment are wondering why support and enthusiasm–which had surged in 2008–is now flagging for Democratic candidates. Why the money is drying up. Why the activists are out in lesser numbers. I might be wrong, but stories like these might be part of the issue: The American Civil Liberties Union [...]
Sat, October 16 2010 » Polis » No Comments
Simone Weil and Social Media
My computer has been in the shop for, like, about a month because of a virus. I haven’t really had a backup computer suitable for blogging. UNTIL NOW. OK, so it’s time to blog about the sorcery of social media. This essay by Jim Grote adroitly puts together a case for Simone Weil‘s theory of [...]
Mon, June 21 2010 » Fiction, Polis, Religion/Logos » No Comments
Half-Centaur, Half-Chimera: Humanism and Science Fiction
Charlie Jane Anders has a very thoughtful essay at io9 entitled “Is ‘Science Fiction Humanism’ A Contradiction In Terms?”: But is science fiction really humanist? Much of science fiction turns out to be about exploring our vast cosmos, and expanding our being. From this quest, one of two outcomes often arises: 1) We meet something [...]
Fri, March 12 2010 » Fiction, Polis » 2 Comments
“America Is My Client” says Bryce Lefever
I nearly drove off the road when I heard this on NPR. Just listen to the whole thing. Bryce Lefever, ladies and gentlemen. Complete with a “sit down, shut up, watch what you say” warning to the American people who dare question his espousal of torture. And I really wonder–the fact that many of the [...]
Mon, May 4 2009 » Polis » 4 Comments
“Orderly Revolution”
Hmm, I’m getting a strong sensation that someone is about to send me the manuscript of the Bachmannomicon. Don’t you?
Fri, March 27 2009 » Polis » 1 Comment
Racefail and Revision
0. I had started to write some notes for a blog post about the political and art a few weeks ago, but after slowly catching up on Racefail09, it seems depressingly abstract. So here’s for something a little more concrete. 1. I’ve found a lot of the dismissal of the racefail discussion itself, in some [...]
Wed, March 11 2009 » Fiction, Polis » 1 Comment
Poetry in Unexpected Places
I’ve had this old cigar box ever since we moved into my wife’s grandmother’s old house eight years ago (has eight years really passed? anyway), and I had happened to just now look at the label on the side: Sept. 1880 Union-Made Cigars This Certifies, that the Cigars contained in this box have been made [...]
Tue, March 3 2009 » Polis » No Comments
On Agitation
One thing that growing up entails is learning that one, twice, three times in your life you will experience some passion–jealousy, love, lust, hate, grief–to the point where you lose it. If you happen to be in public, it doesn’t matter. You may collapse beside the park path and lie there five hours, unable to [...]
Sat, February 28 2009 » Polis » No Comments
Bobby “EPIC FAIL” Jindal
This is what his response reminded me of…you just have to substitute “tax” with “tax cut”:
Wed, February 25 2009 » Polis » No Comments
This is the frustration to guard against
“Those who treasure philosophical and literary works of a pessimistic, nihilistic, or defeatist nature as indispensable to their existence are hopelessly frustrated with living in a world on autopilot when they would like to switch it over to manual consciousness and nosedive humanity into a crash without survivors.” –Thomas Ligotti
Mon, January 5 2009 » Polis, Uncategorized » 2 Comments
infantilism
The reprise of the Sears campaign from last year is up and running: Don’t Just Give a Gift, Make a Wish. My interior monologue regarding that request/demand goes as follows: Um, actually, I’d just like to give a gift, thanks, if that’s cool with you? I’m not a djinn! I think, especially in this economic [...]
Mon, November 24 2008 » Polis » 2 Comments
Tue, November 18 2008 » ?!?!?, Polis » 1 Comment
House Speaker Seeks Independent Bookstore Bailout Bill
WASHINGTON–House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for “emergency and limited financial assistance” for the battered U.S. independent bookstore industry today, and urged the outgoing Bush administration to join legislators in reaching a quick compromise. Five days after dismal financial reports from pretty much everyone, Pelosi backed legislation to make independent bookstores eligible for help under the [...]
Thu, November 13 2008 » ?!?!?, Polis, Uncategorized » 2 Comments
best pro-gay marriage sign ever
Keeping in mind the Latter Day Saints were instrumental in passing Prop. 8. From a protest in NYC. Check out the one to the right in this picture. Pure awesome. “Somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the [...]
Wed, November 12 2008 » Polis » 1 Comment
Connect the Dots
In the “too little, too late” handwringing department: Lawmakers expressed concern yesterday about whether a recent change in tax policy that makes it more attractive for banks to take each other over was justified and whether taxpayer funds have been used to support the acquisition of healthy banks. And, naturally, the citizenry is hit with [...]
Wed, November 12 2008 » Polis » No Comments
