Reading Time: 9 minutes Like all people called to witness the unraveling of history as it happens, I am plagued more than anything by anxiety, a child of uncertainty. The tidy parade of events in history books belies the fact that those living through it do not know how their chapter will end. Will the chaos in Iran breed anything but further chaos? Will everything fall apart?
protest
Posted inNews
New military crackdowns mark ongoing struggle for democracy, stability in Sri Lanka
Reading Time: < 1 minute On Friday, local time, military forces raided a demonstration at Sri Lanka’s presidential secretariat ahead of the stated withdrawal date by peaceful protestors, who had already broken camp outside the prime minister’s official residence. Sri Lanka has both a prime minister and a president, and the newly sworn-in president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, is a six-time prime […]
Posted inClimate Crisis
When there’s nothing left to burn
Reading Time: 3 minutes Wynn Alan Bruce reached the point where he felt he had nothing left to burn. So he set himself on fire. Since learning of this man’s self-immolation on Earth Day, I can’t shake the mental picture of him sitting in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building, dying in unimaginable pain, his flesh consumed by […]
Posted inNews
The DC convoy is part of a broader conservative protest of cultural change
Reading Time: 2 minutes When the Canadian trucker convoy descended on Ottawa, it led to an occupation that lasted roughly three weeks before the Canadian government stepped in. Now, US truckers are pouring into the Washington, DC area, threatening to bring much of the same political and economic disruption. Nominally, the convoy protests are about vaccine mandates. The Canadian […]
Posted inDeep Dive
What does it mean to resist?
Reading Time: 6 minutes If you’ve ever spent time around small children, you might recall one of their most fascinating phases: when a child first learns “no,” and starts to use it. It’s an extraordinary leap into self-recognition, this moment when they discover that they have the option to resist. And they’re curious about it, of course. They want […]
Posted inCulture, General
The World Is a Vampire
Reading Time: 6 minutes …you know how the rest of the song goes, right? The title came to me when I was pondering the state of the world and all I could come up with is that everything is horrifying and I don’t know what to do about it.
Posted inCulture, Education, General
You Cannot Teach Someone Who Feels Unsafe
Reading Time: 4 minutes I have a lot of thoughts on what happened yesterday, but I’m responding first in my capacity as an educator, to remind us that even when people’s positions are at best misinformed, we don’t stand much of a chance of correcting them when they feel unsafe.
Posted inCulture, General
If You Don’t At Least Verbally Disavow Racism We Don’t Know You’re Not Racist
Reading Time: 6 minutes Talk is cheap, but when I only see someone posting that it’s sad about all the property destruction, I get skeptical. Here’s why.
Posted inCartoons, General
You Can’t Please Everyone
Reading Time: < 1 minute When just existing becomes an inadvertent statement that threatens some other group, it’s time ignore it all and simply be.
Posted inCartoons, General
The Corporate Empire Strikes Back
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Man may have the advantage of astronomical wealth and power and political influence but the little guy will always have signs.