The Great Nations: a Tuareg Poem
The poet Souéloum Diagho is from Tessalit in the North of Mali. His father is Tamashek, his mother Fula. He writes in the tradition of the controversial eighth century Arabic poet Ghaylan ibn ‘Uqbah....
Monthly Archive: March 2013
Semi-Connected Thoughts on Government Contracting and the Essential Nature of Government
by James Hanley Earlier, here, on a post by Tod, there was a discussion about contracting out government services, with a particular focus on policing. It’s something I’ve thought about quite a bit, both...
Walking Dead Discussion Thread: S3 E12, “Clear”
Spoiler Alert: Do not read this post or the comment section if you have not seen the show. Also, for those who have read the comics, please do not discuss plot elements not revealed...
Darkness and Wonder in the 23rd Century
Saturday evening, burned out and brain-dead after two weeks of grading papers, I plopped down in the living room to take advantage of my weekend alone by watching the first two Star Trek films. ...
The Past Is Another Country, Batman Edition
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns was originally written in 1986. This, as you know, was a long time ago. While there are a lot of things that can be pointed out that can set...
Sunday deadline bleg.
Just a short bleg for sunday. I set a weekend goal of $250 for my fundraising, and I’m a bit short. If anyone’s got a little spare change lying around, I’d appreciate a push...
Teaching Social Norms, Part 4
There exists a word whose usage might be among the most strongly advocated in early childhood and elementary school classrooms. You will often hear teachers demanding that children say it, sometimes several times a...
Republican Messaging, Going Galt, and a Tale of Two Cities
Last week at Politco’s State Solutions Conference, Republican Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam offered up an explanation for the GOP’s defeat at the ballot box this past November: poor messaging. According to Haslam, Republicans simply...
1,005 Days Later
Hey, do you remember Bradley Manning? I’m really not all that surprised that he pled guilty to a number of the lesser charges against him. But since he did, we can set aside questions...
Friday Jukebox – Boys Don’t Cry
This is the current face of hateful bigotry in Canada, Canada Family Action. They’re using all manner of lies and intimidation to fight Bill C-279, the transgendered rights bill. This made me think of...
