Originally posted on Marjorie Turner Hollman:
Mom, or Grannie Kuhl, part of another Christmas ornament My sister Beth is an unashamed Christmas nut–she pulls out all the Christmas decorations every year, is thrilled with any gift pertaining to Christmas, and simply sparkles with enthusiasm about all things Christmas-y. I, on the other hand, can be…
Having just done a review of American history with one of my classes, I found this article by a Boston College historian drawing a comparison between the Republican Party of 2015 and the Democratic Party of 1860 to be interesting. This historian reminds us that John C. Breckenridge, the pro-slavery candidate of the Democrats of that … More Parallels in Radicalism
Originally posted on Marjorie Turner Hollman:
As our parents age, we often fret about “What do you give someone who has everything?” But there is another side of this equation. What does an increasingly frail elder have to give? Money may be in short supply, energy is diminished; in short, elders often feel increasingly like…
“What is the cause of racism?” one of my English-language students recently asked. Abdullah is from Iraq, a country itself riven with divisions. But the virulence and persistence of America’s problems between white and black Americans is dumbfounding to him and to the rest of my class, and I struggle to explain it. I have chosen … More Explaining America on Race
For no particularly good reason that I can think of, I was invited to go to New York for a day of sifting through scholarship applications. This is the view from my hotel floor (24th). Here in midtown Manhattan, a quite small but luxurious room goes for over $300 a night, which I personally did … More Tall Buildings
So I found a way to put my /our album up for people to listen to online. I hope you enjoy it. Our band is re-forming and we will be working on an album of Appalachian/Irish Christmas/winter music, to be ready this time next year for the holidays. Thanks to all who have enjoyed our … More Some music for the holidays
While I have been more amused than concerned about the machinations of the butt-end of the House of Representatives, this article about the various groups that just successfully deposed Boehner, aborted McCarthy, and are eager to stage a coup that will shrinkwrap the Federal government to the size of a package of hotdogs has me … More The Gang
The enigmatic children’s rhyme “Ring around the rosie” may be about smallpox in the 16th century, but then again, it could just as easily be about any other existential threat to society or humanity. For the American Empire, that ol’ end-of-the-world feeling is coming around. The fires are burning in the US House of Representatives today.
From Steve Wilkerson comes THIS ARTICLE about the fear here in the US that has effectively slammed the doors on hundreds of thousands of desperate Syrians trying to escape slaughter by their government. We refused to accept large numbers of Jews in the ’30s and ’40s, too, and look what happened. We count the Holocaust as … More Fear. Terror. Panic. Cold Shivers. Cold suspicion……..Hate.
Em Turner Chitty 