The inspiration: A story: Nana’s funeral was barely over before my brothers started arguing over her will. I left them, slipping to the back porch. For as long as I could remember her hair was white, her skin unlined and she could hold me for hours with her adventure stories. It was more ornate sculpture than key and was the only thing I wanted from Nana along with my memories.
May 29, 2015
With apologies to Led Zeppelin and music lovers everywhere [McGehee]
There’s a lady who’s shown all about her is known And she’s buying a stairlift to heaven. When she gets there she knows, on the Sunday news shows With a word she can get who she came for. Ooh, ooh, and she’s buying a stairlift to heaven. There’s a sign on the desk but she wants to be sure ‘Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings. In
May 28, 2015
Feminist Greer attacks Elton John; decries ‘deconstruction of motherhood’ [Darleen Click]
Now I don’t know why Germaine Greer is so surprised … Speaking at the Hay Literary Festival, Greer accused the men of “deconstructing motherhood”, criticising them for the fact that Furnish was listed as mother on their children’s birth certificates. “Sometimes I think that really the problem is the concept of motherhood, which we can’t give any real structure to,” she said. “Sir Elton John and his ‘wife’ David Furnish
May 28, 2015
#SomeBlackLivesDontMatter [Darleen Click]
Remember Baltimore? The city of “over-policing” where Freddie Gray’s death resulted in the controversial indictments of six police officers? Well, the police have decided to take a more laid-back approach and, via Bob Belvedere, there have been 36 homicides so far this month. “I’m afraid to go outside,” said Perrine, 47. “It’s so bad, people are afraid to let their kids outside. People wake up with shots through their windows.
May 28, 2015
Of course, Alice Goffman could just be making it all up [Darleen Click]
Steven Lubet does an old-fashioned journalistic review of sociology’s newest heart-throb, Alice Goffman and her book, ON THE RUN: Fugitive Life in an American City, revealing a confirmation bias that never even thought to vet the specifics. On the Run is the story of the six years Goffman spent conducting an ethnographic study in a poor black community in West Philadelphia. Beginning in her sophomore year at the University of
May 26, 2015
BREAKING: Rockets fired into Israel from Gaza [Darleen Click]
… and Hamas claims they have no idea who is doing it… GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A Hamas official says unknown militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket at Israel. Israeli officials say there was no damage or casualties. The official says at least one rocket was fired Tuesday night and that it wasn’t clear who fired it. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t
May 26, 2015
Control the language … [Darleen Click]
The Left in America abuses language on a daily basis — “ban bossy”, racialize the term “thug”, the myriad of microagressions, even slapping the “cultural appropriation” label on the movie title Aloha … Some Native Hawaiians disapprove of the name of a movie filmed and set in Hawaii, saying that titling it “Aloha” is a disrespectful misappropriation of culture and simplifies a word that’s rich with meaning. […] “If you
May 24, 2015
Project Vigil: Omaha Beach [Darleen Click]
This is from 2014, but the young boy plans on returning this year, too. Have lots of tissue handy.
May 24, 2015
2015 Parsimony Award nominee — Principal Joan Monroe [Darleen Click]
For excluding 100 poor kids from the school carnival PS 120 in Flushing held a carnival for its students on Thursday, but kids whose parents did not pay $10 were forced to sit in the auditorium while their classmates had a blast. Close to 900 kids went to the Queens schoolyard affair, with pre-K-to-fifth-grade classes taking turns, each spending 45 minutes outside. The kids enjoyed inflatable slides, a bouncing room