Happy Thanksgiving Gobble Gobble

“People are crushed under the wardrobe. Without lifting up the wardrobe it is impossible to deliver whole peoples from their endless and unbearable suffering. It is terrible that even one person should be crushed under such a weight: to want to breathe, and not be able to. The wardrobe rests on everybody, and everyone tries to lift up the wardrobe,…

I could write about the catastrophic loss the nation has suffered with the destruction of historic architecture in Louisiana and Mississippi, or of the damage done to museums and cultural institutions. But for me, the one story that so far sums up the appalling cultural losses suffered by the nation (and the world), comes from a cultural task force set…

RATTLE is an important national literary publication that offers contemporary poetry, translations, reviews, essays and interviews. I’m pleased to announce that my painting, The Red Dress, appears as the cover for the journal’s Spring 2007 issue. RATTLE publishes print issues twice a year, but also releases web based versions as PDF downloads during the months of March and September. The…

“There is nothing more contemptible than an idle citizen who can combine his laziness with wealth and, consequently, with honors. The humblest artisan, is more worthy of appreciation and, I think, of real honor, than the most illustrious, the most honored, and the richest gentleman if he is at the same time lazy and useless.” [ From an essay printed…

An important new opinion poll reveals that Americans know more about The Simpsons cartoon TV show than about the US Constitution. Conducted by the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, the poll found that only 28 percent of those surveyed could name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, while almost twice as…