Truthiness and Lack of Consequences

politics, rhetoric 2018.07.09 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Mexico blasts U.S. family separation policy as ‘violation of human rights’ (Los Angeles Times) Is Trump’s ‘Space Force’ Against Space Law? (The Daily Beast) When John Bolton’s name surfaced as a likely replacement for H.R. McMaster as President Trump’s National Security Advisor, there was a fair deal of shock across the political spectrum. Not only was Bolton, a neoconservative’s neoconservative, one of the most visible and strident faces of the “stupid wars” that Trump had campaigned against while running for president, but there was also…

Post-Pyrrhic and Punch-Drunk

arts, books, politics, sex, work, writing 2018.07.02 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Five weeks ago, I blogged about a very problematic turn of events for me. On the one hand, the leading book review organization Kirkus Reviews had posted an incredibly positive review of my first novel, The Prostitutes of Lake Wiishkoban. For many authors, getting this kind of a review can be career-making , and it was coming as I headed into a summer where I didn’t have any teaching work. Getting this review in front of as many people as possible became a top priority for me,…

Careering Into Catastrophe

politics, rhetoric, teaching, work 2018.06.25 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Trump Plan To Merge Labor, Education Departments Could Undermine Them Both (Huffington Post via MSN) As the Fred Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? opens in theatres, it’s important to revisit one of Mister Rogers’ most famous quotes, and my personal favourite of his: “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” You’ve probably seen this quote in meme form on your social media feeds…

The Littlest Victims

politics, rhetoric, teaching, work 2018.06.18 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Kids banned from field day if they owe lunch money. School says there’s a $55,000 tab (nj.com) Inside the old Walmart where 1,500 undocumented immigrant kids are being held (Vice News) Every class I teach, I make a point of trying to hold class outside at least once during the term. This tends to be easier in some terms that others (it’s almost impossible to hold a summer term class outside, due to the heat), and I’ve had my fair share of outside classes get…

Respect for Stormy Daniels

politics, rhetoric, sex 2018.06.11 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Adult Film Workers Call Rudy Giuliani’s Attack on Stormy Daniels’ Credibility ‘Dangerous and Dehumanizing’ (Time) One of the few times I’ve made money as a photographer was when I was helping a friend of mine document her performances at a weekly gathering of artists in Bowling Green, just south of Toledo. The pay was minimal, and under normal circumstances I would’ve happily done the photography for free, but I wasn’t doing any teaching work at that moment and I kind of needed the money. I’ve…