Violence

There is my student’s sister, shot to death in a drive by, and then there are dozens of pretend people and people-like creatures killed on screen in “Avatar.” Thursday I read in a journal entry that my student’s sister died this way, and Saturday I was in a theater with elementary school kids drinking in […]

Hell Hath No Fury

Yesterday I walked into two conversations about Hell. First I was sitting eating my lunch in an empty classroom when a couple of students wandered in. I was doing my best to ignore them, but one was saying, “I have a King James translation and I just don’t understand it with all those wherefores and […]

Salinger

For introverts everywhere, J.D. Salinger had been staying home. He did his thing, and he just wanted us to leave him alone. He said no thank you, and sometimes, hell, no, in a world where people foam at the mouth for media attention. I liked knowing he was at home and didn’t need nobody. I […]

Courting Corporations

There is just no way to fund public education without the help of corporations. Many American voters feel that if you are really, really trying, you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps in your chaotic middle school where your math teacher never shows up and work summers at a minimum-wage job and study on […]