Direct Democracy

I went on a road/ski trip to Vermont with my mama at the beginning of this week, and am convinced this state is doing something every single state in the country should be doing.
The first Tuesday of March is Town Meeting Day in Vermont. You don’t go to work; you go to Town Meeting and [...]

Hillary v. Obama – What Gives?

Am I the only one who notices/cares that when people refer to Barack Obama, they call him “Obama” but when they refer to Hillary Clinton, they call her “Hillary”? They don’t call Bill Clinton “Bill” or John McCain “John,” so what gives?

Super Tuesday

A reminder to everyone that this is Super Tuesday, the day that 24 states around the country hold primaries or caucuses. With enough participation, today could determine the nomination in one or both parties.
A MAJOR reminder to Massachusetts Fringe readers and voters: If you, like me, are NOT enrolled in a major political party, you [...]

A Tale of Two New Yorks

It is a truly Dickensian tale.
This fall, I spent the semester negotiating both cities. Most mornings, I’d wake up on the well-to-do Upper West Side, grab a coffee on the corner, walk past the Gap and Banana Republic to the train.
A half hour later I’d emerge in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, where [...]

The People Spoke…and We Listened

Last night, I was lucky enough to be part of the audience for a taping of a segment for “The People Speak,” a new production based on historian and social activist Howard Zinn’s classic A People’s History of the United States. An impressive cast of actors, writers, and musicians are involved with the project, which [...]

Thanks a lot, Dave Obey.

Full disclosure: I’m cross-pollinating. The publishing company I work for, Beacon Press, has a great blog (the Beacon Broadside) and a terrific and thoughtful blog editor.
I just do not understand why this country keeps throwing money at abstinence-only education. Clearly, it doesn’t work; clearly, we don’t have the best interests of our youth at heart [...]

Leaving the Country to Give Thanks

Five years ago I met my Canadian girlfriend, M. I’d like to tell you that we met reaching for Adrienne Rich’s The Dream of a Common Language in our favorite independent bookstore, but we met in typical college fashion, in a gay bar across the river from campus. An athlete and later coach, M always [...]

What is Feminism?

What is Feminism? Can Christians be Feminists? Can Conservatives? Can “Pro-Lifers?” Non-white women have often been marginalized within feminist discourse; poor women are nearly non-existent as valiant voices. Also, many issues have divided feminists like sex work or lesbian rights. About five years ago, I listened attentively with my Intro to Women’s Studies class as [...]

Panties for peace

If you’ve already told the Postal Regulatory Commission you won’t stand for a sellout to big media (and if you haven’t yet, there’s still time to weigh in before their hearings on Tuesday, October 30), perhaps you’re feeling a little bored, a little blue.
Happily, there’s a cure for such listlessness, and it even involves the [...]

Mary Gordon and Speaking One’s Mind

Deborah Solomon’s interviewee in her August 5th weekly New York Times Magazine column was the writer Mary Gordon. When asked, “Are you a Hillary Clinton supporter?” Gordon replied, “I think no woman is electable in America.” She kept going, but reading that line, I remember thinking, “Wow, this woman has guts. Thank goodness someone [...]