Art, Film, Photography, Poetry, Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Shirt

March 25th marks the anniversary of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire. In Shirt Robert Pinsky weaves in the Triangle Factory fire as he broods over the purchase of a shirt. He dwells with careful loving attention on the technical terms for shirt-making. His lists of esoteric terms and trades lead to moral digressions on Asian sweatshops, the Triangle fire, Scottish…

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Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Consumed by Hate

Imagine being so consumed with racial hatred that you travel all the way from Maryland specifically on a mission to kill black people. This is what seems to have happened last Monday night when Timothy Caughman suffered a brutal sword attack from a complete stranger apparently intent on targeting black men in New York City. Caughman, who was 66 and lived…

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Art, Film, Photography, Poetry, RattleBag and Rhubarb, WW1

About Suffering They Were Never Wrong

About suffering they were never wrong, The old Masters: how well they understood Its human position: how it takes place While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;                                                    …

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Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb

The #Resistance is #TheMajority

One of the great pleasures of the age of instant and ubiquitous access to information is being able to re-connect with thinkers you once read but have lost touch with. Instead of remaining that-person-who-wrote-that-book-you-liked it’s possible to continue the connection with their thinking in effortless ways. And even they don’t have a blog or a twitter account you can be…

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Poetry, Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb, WW1

Treasons Greetings: The Ghosts of Happy Holidays Past

It’s politically incorrect to say Happy Holidays these days. We must all say Merry Christmas. No word on the acceptability of Treasons Greetings so I’ll play it safe and stick to Christmas. Religious freedom – it’s a wonderful thing. Just like freedom from religion. Part of making America great again is that we don’t have to worry about other people’s…

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Education, Poetry, Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Two Cheers for Diversity and the Unfinished Work of America: Stronger Together

The NAIS Annual People Of Color Conference opens this week in Atlanta. It will draw independent educators from across the country. They will gather in groups small and large; renew friendships and make new connections; listen to speakers and attend, participate in, and lead workshops and meetings. I am sure it will all be a necessary time of re-dedication, renewal and affinity.…

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Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb

From Rage And Grief To Action: What We Need To Do Now

Guest Post by Susan Scheid Writing in the Washington Post today, Fareed Zakaria weighs in once again, as many already have, on “what went wrong.” His solution? “Democrats need to focus on the gut, not the head.” Zakaria is often insightful, but in this case, he’s way off the mark, offering, as so many do, a facile prescription without anything…

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Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb

The Great Unleaving: When Life Throws Rhubarb on your Custard

I left full-time employment at the end of June with a grand plan of doing nothing. After 45 years in education it seemed only reasonable. The send-off was great, people were kind and generous and the summer was ahead. I had an unspoken notion that once the election was over I would begin to focus on what I might want to do…

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Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Breaking News: USA Today Did NOT Break the Trump Lawsuit Story. Here’s Who Did.

On November 25, 2016, the New York Times Editorial Board issued a blistering editorial entitled “Donald Trump and the Lawsuit Presidency.” With sabers raised, amid thundering hooves, the editorial proclaimed: Donald Trump will take office as president facing a tsunami of litigation over his business practices and personal behavior. He may have settled the fraud suits involving Trump University, but…

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Art, Film, Photography, Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Degenerate Art and the New Regime in Washington

There’s a great exhibit on at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC:  Max Beckmann in New York It highlights Max Beckmann (1884–1950) connections with New York City and includes works from his time living in New York as well as works from 1920-1948 that are in New York collections. One of the  first works in the exhibit is a self-portrait…

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Art, Film, Photography, Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Pandora and Her New Box

This 1809 cartoon by the political caricaturist James Gillray is in the National Portrait Gallery. London. It is entitled Pandora Opening her Box. It depicts spokesperson Kellyanne Conway letting loose all the evils of the world as proposed by the Trump administration. The story behind the woman in the cartoon – Mary Ann Clarke – is fascinating.

Education, Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Leadership, Problem-Solving, Compassion and Empathy

As Donald Trump spirals deeper into madness and depravity the toll on the collective psyche just grows. Fortunately help is at hand in the form of the example of Hillary Clinton who recently demonstrated her tremendous problem-solving and self-calming abilities. We all know that cats saved the internet. Now it seems they are saving people from the stress of this…

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Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb

An Election Season Briefing: Cultivating Optimism as a Habit of Mind

Earlier today, a friend posted on Facebook an article by Charlie Pierce, “This Thing Is Nowhere Near Over,” which sent me down a trail of my own thoughts about where this election is headed, and needs to head, right now. Here, first, are a couple of thoughts about the Pierce article itself. The subheading for the article is “Trump has…

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