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BY JOHN K. WILSON I interviewed Ian Reifowitz via email about his new book which is being published today, The Tribalization of Politics: How Rush Limbaugh’s Race-Baiting Rhetoric on the Obam…
Source: Interview with Ian Reifowitz on Rush Limbaugh and The Tribalization of Politics
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Read all 10 parts. It’s a long read but worth it.
In colonial Virginia, there was a law that white indentured servants could not be stripped naked and whipped. They could be whipped while fully clothed, but only black servants and slaves could be whipped naked. So the white servants enjoyed “white privilege.”
Rev. Dr. Thandeka
The Rev. Dr. Thandeka, a Unitarian Universalist theologian, says this is an example of how the idea of “white privilege” is used to persuade white people to accept being exploited and abused.
She wrote a series of posts (linked below) on her web log about how the idea of white privilege has been used through American history to divide poor black and white people and maintain the status quo.
She questioned the value of mainstream Christian churches trying to promote racial equality by means of instilling white guilt. As an alternative, she proposed certain spiritual practices to help people of all colors better…
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You should always be trying to write a poem you are unable to write, a poem you lack the technique, the language, the courage to achieve. Otherwise you’re merely imitating yourself, going nowhere, because that’s always easiest.
John Berryman
Why I’m the poet I’ve become: John Berryman and the lucky thirteen
Article by Philip Levine in New York Times 26th December 1993
Something to think about. I have a Brita pitcher but I often buy a bottle of “spring” water when I’m out & about for the convenience of it. We’ve often joked that the local “spring” water company here is just filling the bottles from someone’s backyard hose in Cheektowaga.
Last night a client asked for water, no ice. Seems she disapproved of Pellegrino served at the bar. No problem, I’ll be right back. Oh, you want to come with me? Have it your way. Following me to the kitchen, she watched as I turned the faucet to run cold water. Her jaw went slack, unable to support quivering lips on a face now drained of colour. Horrified, she mustered “you only have tap water?”. “Excuse me” I replied, handing her a glass of water, no ice. “I can’t drink that” she sputtered, “I need bottled water”. Propriety screamed “easy now, be cool, you’re a professional”. Rather than snap “are you thirsty or not?”, politest admonishment ahead of “what’s wrong with you”, I smiled, shrugged and replied “there’s bottled juice at the bar”.
Water, no ice lady’s delusion isn’t unique. Convenience, accessibility, marketing and collective apathy sustain bottled water dependency…
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To: Robert Swan Mueller III
From: Robert A. Vella
Sir, you were a decorated war hero and a highly respected law enforcement officer which elevated you to lofty positions of authority including Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Special Counsel for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to oversee the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and related matters (particularly, obstruction of justice). Your career has been brilliant to say the least. Few public servants have been so widely lauded as you have.
However, when the nation and its people needed you most, you dropped the ball handed to you in the most cowardly way imaginable. As a consequence, the United States of America as a democratic constitutional republic has been laid bare to the whims of a maniacal would-be dictator. Furthermore, this consequence poses a grave threat to the health and safety…
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