We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. --Zhuangzi I recently taught George Orwell's 1984 to my Honors English 11 classes. In order to provide the historical underpinnings of the novel, I taught the basics … [Read more...]

Writing to learn was once a popular concept in education. The idea was to write about what a student was learning. It was hardly revolutionary in English, but it was pretty cutting edge in math. If my recent post is any guide, writing to … [Read more...]

“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” --George Orwell It's finally happened. Trump's crimes have led the media to criticize the Democrats. I'm not talking nutty right-wing, but the mainstream. Not that I … [Read more...]

Beacon Hill: where the coffee is strong and so are the Women Politicians are human. Occasional bad behavior should come as no surprise. What matters is what is done about it. And recently sworn-in Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa (D-Northampton) and … [Read more...]

I've met Elizabeth Warren. And let me tell you, she's likable. She doesn't send me Christmas cards, and she doesn't remember me. But I've spoken to her and had my picture taken with her at a rally hosted by my friend and state senator Eric … [Read more...]

"We need New Politics because our current politics isn’t working." — Congressman Seth Moulton In the 1980s, Patrick Caddell, pollster for Gary Hart's presidential campaign, parlayed the idea of a "new idea" into one of the biggest … [Read more...]

L'enfer, c'est les autres. --Sartre Claims of Native American ancestry were once common in New England. My mother's family, for example, still claims that my great-grandfather's mother was Native American. I've done a fair amount of … [Read more...]

The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition … [Read more...]