In August 2000, I was blogging about Top 10 Tips for Writing Poetry (which I’ve updated over the years and is the most popular page on my site today) Richard Lederer’s presidential wordplay (“I predict that at the end of the campaign. Gore will be bushed and Bush will be gored. Then we’ll have either…
Similar:All About Soap — Why Washing Your Hands Fights the CoronavirusPeople typically think of soap as gentle…CultureRolling Stone and UVA: The Columbia School of Journalism ReportSloppy journalism can ruin lives. Check …AcademiaTwo Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbots Talk and Argue with Each OtherSounds like a typical grad school semina…AmusingUnderstanding the difference between credible information and propagandaIn…
Our understanding of COVID-19 has accreted around the idea that it kills a few and is “mild” for the rest. That caricature was sketched before the new coronavirus even had a name; instead of shifting in the light of fresh data, it calcified. It affected the questions scientists sought to ask, the stories journalists sought…
Similar:Another section of a #steampunk control panel. Useful for a cutaway shot after a character…AestheticsUpdated a "Gender Neutral Language" handoutMTV recently ditched the “Best Actor/Act…AcademiaYou didn’t make the Harlem Shake go viral—corporations didI never found “Harlem Shake” videos to b…BusinessGame Design Program for Education & TrainingI haven’t tried GameSalad yet… and won…AcademiaYour second attempt at…
Another very rough day. Students are cheerful and patient, obviously happy to be here. I can barely understand what the students right in front of me are saying. (It’s not about volume… the problem is I can’t see their lips moving; I do have an appointment with an audiologist Friday.) I long for the days…
Similar:Amazing McDonald's "Maestro Burger" CommercialJaw-dropping. So creative and joyful. …AestheticsInequity and BYODIf we are really wanting to help these k…CultureMore than a million people die on roads every year. Meet the man determined to prevent the… Imagine a society that engineers its…CultureFaces the girl makes during her Luisa monologue. (Four more chances to see The…
I survived the first day teaching in a masked classroom. As I expected, I had a very difficult time hearing my students. I felt awkward taking up the first class talking about myself, but I told them I’ve recently been diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder. My ears can pick up the sounds of their…
Bee walked on six spindly legs to the spot where Spider had stopped moving. Bee, whose job was to record the doings of the lab, had been across the room, but its video feed had captured the moment. The tiny arachnid-shaped bot had been monitoring the bio-nanobot colonies when it teetered and fell, alone. “Can…
Plenty of news organizations have reported on the tragic case of a white boy who was murdered while riding his bicycle. One must ignore easily verifiable opposing evidence to claim that “the media” are universally ignoring this story. It’s even more unhinged to latch upon the conspiracy theory that the reason for this (non-existent) lack…
Similar:Behind the art: The Westmoreland's 'Death of Elaine' beloved of staff and visitorsI always slow down and spend some time w…Aestheticsi trained an ai chatbot on my childhood journal entries – so that i could engage in real-t…I kept a journal from Feb 3 1983 (the da…CultureHyperbole and a Half: The Alot is Better Than…
Similar:York Plays 2025: Five cameras, adding up to ~100 hours of footage.Five cameras, adding up to ~100 hours of…AcademiaSherlock Holmes and The Woman (daughter and I rehearsing for a live recording Friday after…CultureBryan A. Louiselle, 1966-2022 (musician, composer, orchestrator, musical director)I was Mayor Shinn to Bryan’s Harold Hill…CultureI have a daughter who does things. Here’s…
One of the few harsh critics of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, which premiered 70 years ago. Mr. Bentley, who was also a playwright, was an early champion of modern European drama in the 1940s but had little use for American plays. Source: Eric Bentley, Critic Who Preferred Brecht to Broadway, Dies at 103…
On Tuesday, as Florida set a daily record for covid-19 deaths, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods prohibited his deputies from wearing masks at work. His order, which also applies to visitors to the sheriff’s office, carves out an exception for officers in some locations, including hospitals, and when dealing with people who are high-risk or…
Similar:Northeast braces for temps near boiling point – Yahoo! NewsThe inter tubes are clogged with pundits…Current_EventsConnecting the Dots…Madeline Cash reflects on her boomer mot…CultureJournalism ethics and the elephant in the room.The point of “the Rosenthal Rule” is not…CultureHow a Supermoon Helped Free the Giant Container Ship From the Suez Canal Powerful lead to this well-written…
block of American society. But for critics of how the term is used today, Judeo-Christian is vague, historically flawed and even inflammatory. These opposing views reflect a deep rift in American society and illuminate very different fundamental political beliefs.
“This is a term defined by exclusion,” said Shalom Goldman, a professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, arguing that the term is often used to reject secular values and Muslims.
“It’s essentially saying our values are not the values of the Enlightenment or the Constitution, but instead our values are the values of the Bible,” he said.
Rabbi Jack Moline, president of the Washington-based Interfaith Alliance, called the term a “generalization” and said it is one “Christians in particular use to put a patina of universality on a certain Christian culture in the United States.”
Good news writing, and praise for Trump’s cool demeanor during a crisis, from : The Independent The large man in the grey suit interrupted Donald Trump. No one interrupts Donald Trump – especially at the White House. At his White House. Then the man turned his back to the television cameras showing the utterly surreal scene live around the…
Similar:Get ready for Generation ZStudents continue to change… I’m doing…CultureJust wrote the first ending to my in-progress journalism game (created in Twine)3,486 words, 120 links, 57 lexias, and c…DesignMonsters are People Too Study used D & D characters to…AcademiaKids Turn Bratz into Star Wars Rey DollsSometimes, I catch myself thinking there…AestheticsDon't Help Your Kids With…
You might have been asked to submit a short video assignment. Don’t do what I’m doing! You can’t see my eyes, the background is distracting, you’re looking up my nose and the lighting is awful. This short video demonstrates some quick tips that will greatly improve a video submission assignment. Your instructor and your classmates…
Similar:Topics in Am Lit: August Wilson — Online J-Term course starts Dec 16.PersonalWhy Our Brains Make Us Click on ListsThe article-as-numbered-list has several…CultureClose reading is hard to do in a state of normalized outrage.So this “Muslim ban” thing… is a ban o…Current_EventsI regularly teach Uncle Tom's Cabin, but have never seen it before. BooksWhy I…
I regularly teach Flannery O’Connor, and assign a whole book of her short stories when I taught an American Lit 1915-Present course. Now that I’m teaching “American Lit 1776-Present” I keep her stories in rotation, but I have more material to cover, so I have to be more selective. O’Connor’s fiction contains many themes and…