On August 23, I joined with over 120 Eagle Scouts and returned my Eagle badge in protest over the Boy Scouts of America’s decision to reaffirm its ban on openly gay Scouts and Scout leaders.
Read MoreCategory Archives: Education
Why I Returned My Eagle Scout Badge
Also posted in Civil Rights, Culture, General, Health, Media, U.S. Tagged Barack Obama, Boy Scouts of America, Catholic, Eagle Scout Badge, homosexuality, Mitt Romney, Mormon, protest, Southern Baptist 4 Comments
Ryan and Ayn
Democrats attempting to paint Paul Ryan as a slavish devotee of novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand may see their efforts backfire. In the first place, while Ryan has praised Rand’s defense of the free market, he’s a former alter boy who has made it clear that he rejects Rand’s atheism and is closer to St. Thomas Aquinas when it comes to questions on the meaning of life. So identifying Ryan with Ayn may not be as easy as they think.
Read MoreAlso posted in Campaigns & Elections, Economy, General, Labor, Political Rhetoric, Politics, U.S. Tagged Ayn Rand, democrats, GOP, Paul Ryan, President Obama, republicans 1 Comment
Reading from Africa
This is a story mainly of grateful memories. Long stays in Africa – especially the evenings after early dusk – call for reading in the old fashion, where like wine-tasters, the reader savors, spits, savors again, then considers the pleasure somehow a form of achievement.
Read MoreAlso posted in General, International, U.S. Tagged Brian Urquhart, James Thurber, Mark Twain, Michael Beschloss, Ralph Bunche, Ulysses S. Grant Leave a comment
Tired of Chest-Thumping Patriotism
From the July Fourth season through the fall election, the American people will be hearing nothing but uber-patriotic rhetoric coming from their politicians and national leaders.
They will be telling us how America is a great nation and how Americans are a good people, and they will be lathering praise on us as hard-working, self-sacrificing, charitable, fair and just.
I don’t know about you, but all of this cheerleading and backslapping rhetoric strikes me as a bit ingratiating and self-serving. Flattery is not patriotism.
Read MoreAlso posted in Campaigns & Elections, Culture, Economy, Environment, General, Health, Political Rhetoric, Politics, U.S. Tagged American dream, American People, chest-thumping patriotism, China, Constitution, July Fourth, Paul Ryan, Politicians, poverty, right to drive an SUV, uber-patriotic rhetoric, World War II Leave a comment
“Please Go Away”
That was the slogan on the marquis of Boston’s Crimson Travel Agency, for about two decades.
Early in 1973 I took them up on it. Almost resolutely I entered the office and asked for the next plane to Africa. I was well aware of the Continent’s immensity, but I felt I needed to depart quickly, so I asked where I could go without a visa.
Read MoreAlso posted in Culture, General, International, Race & Ethnicity, U.S. Tagged Boston’s Crimson Travel Agency, Casablanca, Morocco, Ouagadougou, Senegal Leave a comment
Decoding the Student Loan Debate
Some insight into why Washington and the American electorate have trouble communicating can come from examining the current conversation about extending cut-rate loans to college students.
Read MoreAlso posted in Business, Campaigns & Elections, Culture, Economy, General, Political Rhetoric, Politics, U.S. Tagged Bush tax cuts, college students, Congress, Congressional Budget Office, Stafford loans, student debt, Undergraduates 2 Comments
Malamud and Me
Now after 32 years, I present to you my correspondence with Bernard Malamud, March 15 and April 14, 1981.
Read MoreAlso posted in Culture, General, International, Race & Ethnicity, U.S. Tagged Bernard Malamud, Brazzaville, Congo, Marien Ngouabi University Leave a comment
The Irony of Mitt Romney’s 47 Percent
To Mitt Romney, the very workers he claims as part of his success story are precisely those he disparages for not paying income taxes and for taking more than they give back to society.
In effect, if Romney follows his own logic, he is far more a part of the problem than he is the solution.
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