Monthly Archives: July 2012

“It Has Always Been About Voting”

Posted on July 30, 2012 by

Check out these amazing photos of the 1966 march to Mississippi in solidarity with James Meredith (who had started walking on his own, but was ambushed by a gunman and wounded). Bob just released these photos a few weeks ago. And as he … Continue reading →

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Mr. Darcy is not your boyfriend

Posted on July 25, 2012 by

My AlterNet review of Eva Illouz’s new(ish) book, Why Love Hurts. The opener: The 2005 film Pride and Prejudice ends with Mr. Darcy striding across the dewy morning marshes, shirt unbuttoned to strategically expose chest hair, and taking his lady love (played by Keira Knightley) … Continue reading →

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Hard-hitting journalism from Philadelphia magazine

Posted on July 23, 2012 by

My housemate recently brought home a 2011 copy of Philadelphia magazine from her office. And I mean, just, wow. This is an actual article someone wrote for real American dollars. Forget the gyrating pelvis and the Hustle and crowd-surfing and … Continue reading →

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The political power of hospitals

Posted on July 22, 2012 by

This is why I have hope for the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, especially in states like Maine or Pennsylvania, where the Republican governors in question have a bit less ideological street cred to maintain. “Researchers found, for example, that in 2002 … Continue reading →

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The boy on the wall

Posted on July 22, 2012 by

This little guy hangs on the wall of my grandmother’s house in Centreville, MD. Familiarity breeds complacency, I suppose, and I never asked who he was or why he was gazing down on us. But last weekend, as we were dividing my grandmother’s old … Continue reading →

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The Bolshevik Who Lived

Posted on July 20, 2012 by

My review of Victor Serge’s Memoirs of a Revolutionary is up at Full Stop. Serge died in Mexico, in 1947. His works were venerated by Orwell and American anti-Stalinist leftists like Dwight McDonald, but he never gained much cache in the English … Continue reading →

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The Opposite of Batman

Posted on July 18, 2012 by

This is the opposite of Batman. (The context, for non-Community fans.)

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Wodehouse wisdom

Posted on July 17, 2012 by

I think of this quote every time a SEPTA subway roars by while I wait underground for a trolley. It’s from Psmith, Journalist, a lesser P.G. Wodehouse novel (but worth a read anyway). “Conversation on the Subway is impossible. The ingenious … Continue reading →

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NYRB Classics 4 Life (New tattoo?)

Posted on July 15, 2012 by

Four or five Christmases ago my dad got me a copy of Kingsley Amis’ first novel, Lucky Jim (home of the best hangover scene ever).  I devoured it and found the simple pleasure felt when a classic novel, read by … Continue reading →

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Quakers and Occupy, together forever

Posted on July 13, 2012 by

I have a little story in this week’s Philly City Paper on the role Quakers played in last week’s Occupy National Gathering. (My AlterNet coverage is here.) Despite the challenges, says Kietzman, “It is kind of natural for Quakers to be involved … Continue reading →

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