When the American novelist/essayist Marilynne Robinson sat down with President Obama for a chat on matters literary, religious and political, President Obama asked her to — “Tell me a little bit about how your interest in Christianity converges with your… Read More ›
[From the Institute of Policy Studies via Common Dreams] By Phyllis Bennis The destruction of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, with 22 dead so far, including doctors, other staff and patients, capped a week that also saw… Read More ›
Speaking of perpetual war, the NY Times is reporting that the U.S. war in Afghanistan, which, despite a major withdrawal of troops, was never entirely over, has erupted again as the U.S. launched airstrikes and deployed Special Forces troops after the… Read More ›
Yesterday, at a U.N. summit meeting on women’s rights hosted by, of all nations, China and its president, Xi Jinping, we learned that China will “reaffirm our commitment to gender equality and women’s development,” according to Xi. So far, that… Read More ›
Perhaps inspired by a genuinely religious (that is, generally liberal) sermon, House Speaker John Boehner decided the next morning he had nothing more to say politically and told House Republicans and the nation yesterday that he is quitting and leaving Congress. Boehner did not say, however,… Read More ›
At present the “golden rule” of many in Congress is he who has the most gold is the most to be loved and pandered to, so it was no doubt a bit of a shock for our representatives in Washington, D.C. to… Read More ›
By Rumple Oxbridge (imaginary rhymer-in-residence) What Gov. Walker learned, at last, is this: ignorance is only bliss if ignorance is all there is — “In God We Trust” will soon go bust if you think God thinks for us. [For the NY… Read More ›
If it’s in the NY Times it must be true: Gov. Scott Walker is throwing in the towel. Perhaps now he’ll return to Wisconsin where his local popularity is plummeting.
Though perhaps only of interest to students of American literature, the death this past week of former UW-Milwaukee English professor Ihab Hassan made news because he is credited for creating the term “postmodernism” to describe a style of thinking and… Read More ›
By Riverboat Sam, The Pacific’s technical specialist/digital skeptic In my quite distant prime, if a man wanted to buy a woman for a while or longer there were cultural institutions he could avail himself of. Or if he was wealthy and not a… Read More ›
(Photo in the public domain in the United States: Hulton Archive/Getty Images. “American actor Gloria Swanson (1899 – 1983) stands on tiptoes on the prow of a motorboat while Teddy the dog sits with his paws on the steering wheel in… Read More ›
(Photo copyright: Public Domain–U.S.) By Rumple Oxbridge, a man of few and controversial words, a few of which rhyme “Controversial” is a dodge that journalists use to avoid the having to choose a better, truer word like “kooky.” To wit: “The… Read More ›
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity…. Read More ›
By Riverboat Sam, The Pacific’s “technical specialist” I am not against the newfangled on principle; typewriting seemed to me a great improvement over my wayward handwriting and having the means I got one of those machines right away. Still got it, in… Read More ›
(Drawing by John Tenniel [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) “It’s the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life!”— Alice in Wonderland By John Kaufman It’s been a busy week in Madison, Wisconsin where Republicans/conservatives are currently in charge… Read More ›
(Mother’s Day card, 1916 by Northern Pacific Railway (eBay item card front card back) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) (Editor’s Note: Former imaginary conservative columnist T.S. Swanky, aka “the voice of reason,” asked to return for he fictionally failed to… Read More ›
The Pacific 