Category Archives: politics

Big Bladder is Being Watched

politics, teaching 2019.09.30 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

[The following blog contains mentions of child abuse.] “I was beginning to think Foucault’s writings on the ‘disciplinary society’ were becoming irrelevant …” (Tweet from Josh Seim)‘I think my bladder changed’: Former teacher describes years without bathroom breaks (Yahoo!) At one of my first adjunct teaching jobs after I got my graduate degree, there was another instructor who was often in the teachers’ lounge at the same time I was, and we did not get along with each other at all. I had a number…

We Must Catch Them When They Fall

politics, rhetoric 2019.09.09 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

[The following blog contains mentions of bullying, child abuse and spousal abuse.] One of the most formative moments of my young life came when I was on a week-long school trip to a campground in Michigan in sixth grade. At a time when my father’s physical abuse of me and Mom was at its peak, I still really didn’t want to go on this trip because I couldn’t healthily deal with most of my classmates. Making matters worse was that as part of the “fun”…

The Last Worst-Case Scenario

personal, politics, rhetoric 2019.09.02 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Historic Hurricane Dorian unleashing ‘catastrophic’ blow in northern Bahamas, hurricane warnings posted for Florida’s east coast (Washington Post)UN Climate Panel: Emissions Must Fall Rapidly by 2030 to Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change (ecowatch.com) A little over a year ago, when I woke up to an email telling me that I’d been offered this full-time teaching position here in Wisconsin, I had to read it through three times to make sure that I was understanding it correctly. To say that I’d cast a wide net in my…

Telling The Planet Where to Stick It

canada, politics, rhetoric, toledo 2019.08.26 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Ontario gas pump sticker violators will face fines, says Ford (Global News)Elections Canada climate advertising guidelines puts chill on green groups’ advocacy (Reuters via Yahoo!)Democratic National Committee votes against allowing 2020 candidates to participate in climate change debate (CNN) My personality is probably a good explanation for why I tend to be such a night owl, but my earlier living situation played a large part in that as well. For most of the time I lived in Toledo, I was going to bed in a…

Trendsetting Garbage

internet, politics, sports 2019.07.29 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Not loving the new Twitter? Here’s how to revert back to the old desktop version (Manchester Evening News) Now that my AFL club is doing well again (albeit with a propensity for needing last-second heroics week after week to get wins, even against bottom-of-the-ladder clubs), I’ve been looking at more Australian Rules Football videos online lately. As I’ve been doing so, I’ve noticed that there is one user on YouTube — I won’t mention their name, but I will say that they’ve uploaded zero videos,…