Category Archives: Essay

To Lead, To Drive, To Do: Why (and How) I Teach

(Originally published December 29, 2018) Students tend to like solid, concrete, specific answers. Or, more accurately, they like to know, solidly, concretely, and specifically what answers I want from them. They rarely get them, however, and that’s a good thing. … Continue reading

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Trump and the Blood Libel

I have said before that Trump has intentionally evoked thinly veiled white supremacist rhetoric. I’ll cover a few instances of this before noting what I found most disturbing in his speech from Tulsa, and what it has to do with … Continue reading

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Who Made Whom? The Legacy of Fingerpointing in the Era of Trump

Someone posted this as pushback to the fear and bewilderment at Trump and his ilk, and the rise of fascistic ideology springing up worldwide. I felt the need to reply. “How did this happen you ask? You created “us” when … Continue reading

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Losing Treasures; the Need for Cursive

Article for the school paper, March, 2017 I have a treasure in my home, but I cannot access it. The treasure is a box of letters and postcards from grandparents, great-grandparents, great aunts, and others of my family. I am … Continue reading

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Chiropractic is not Medicine

Because I am sick to death of having this argument and having to find these sources over and over, I’ve assembled them in one place. Bottom line is, sure, you can spend your money however you like, but do NOT, … Continue reading

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10 Rather Easy Questions, Actually

A recently posted piece on TodayChristian.net.came across my feed today. They call the piece “10 Questions For Every Atheist: Some Questions Atheist[sic] Cannot Truly and Honestly REALLY Answer!“(sic)  This rather odd claim is followed by the observation: “Which leads to some … Continue reading

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The Mindset of the GOP & What it Means for the Future.

A recent public opinion poll (released Feb 24, 2015) showed a couple of very scary points. There is a lot about favored presidential contenders (though none had yet announced), and some not very surprising assessments of public opinion regarding other … Continue reading

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Why Religion in Education Matters: Basic Science Literacy

I posted about this photo below a while back. (Click to enlarge.) The web was oddly ambivalent about whether this is really part of a science textbook; even Snopes wouldn’t come down and confirm it. (http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=62120) So I held my nose … Continue reading

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The American Dream: A cultural theory perspective

I recently got chatting with someone I met on a political forum and found myself in a (surprisingly and pleasantly civil) political discussion. The other person and I tend to come from rather different views, but our discourse has been … Continue reading

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Why #NotAllMen is not women’s problem

In conversation with someone I respect today about the #YesAllWomen issue, I mentioned the “M&M” analogy (imagine a bowl of M&Ms. Only 10% are poisoned. Grab a big handful. No? What’s the problem? Not all the M&Ms are poisoned….) as … Continue reading

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