Kevin Joel Berland

Leonard Peltier Medical Care Fundraiser On February 18, 2025, Leonard Peltier—member of the Chippewa and Lakota Nations—was finally released after more than 49 years behind bars, making him the longest-serving Indigenous political prisoner ...

chuffed.org/project/1247...

Well, somebody should!

Uncle Isidore shares the warmth of his chair with Shayna Punim. Summer's just about finished. Two cats sharing a cHair..

Uncle Isidore shares the warmth of his chair with Shayna Punim. Summer's just about finished.

immigration judges are not real judges; rather, they are bureaucrats charged with the current president's spurious agenda of mass deportation.

I could go on, but I am unable to keep up the Rant Mode for very long...

the eyes of the rest of the world, and yet it is highly unlikely that government officials or contractors would be punished. No need to multiply examples.

Moreover, the so-called immigration courts operate outside settled law, proffered mere opinion as legal guidance The so-called

government should take measures to expel them? Is a statement by a cabinet secretary that protesting "makes the U.S. look bad" sufficient legal justification for criminalizing groups and deporting protestors? Indeed, there are many U.S. government activities that make this country look bad in

Under what statute can the immigration system demand full disclosure of participation in lawful assembly and demonstrations? Internal policy of the immigration system is not law. What legislature or committee of elected officials rules over the designation of political groups as so dangerous that

Grey and white Tuxedo cat. Sleeping on the chair he and I share. He is probably dreaming of a future where there are no pesky eyedrops. This is Isidore.

Isidor is probably dreaming of a future without eyedrops.

That's #PandemicMagicalThinking you've described so well as the "whole 'It's over'" &c.

Gotta say seeing governors competing to one up each other to see who can make vaccines most accessible is a refreshing change.

Here's my new study partner, SarahTheCat.

My son once brought home two unvaccinated dogs from his best friend's house. They both had parvo; the little chihuahua died very painfully, but the big fluffy mixed breed puppy somehow survived. It's not only MDs who should take care to do no harm. Everyone should.

I already miss you. But really, do take care of yourself.

Note whose hands he shook, and note how he walked right past Justice Kagan without even looking her way. A boor as well as crook.

Better than any number of minutes after session begins, as, to my chagrin, I know experientially.

We too have a pumpernickel pancake with eyes.

Criminalization is the fuel of fascism.

Not your bandwagon.

Is this connected somehow to the phenomenon of people who have done something wrong getting angry at the person they wronged-- for trying to make them feel bad?

that at the bottom they are revenue-generating schemes for universities or other cultural institutions.

Disclosure: I have taught introductory creative writing as a university elective. I make no claim of assisting student writers to greatness.

brought the talent with them, and they probably would have succeeded anyway, with sufficient work at their craft. Of course there are many great self-taught authors, past and present. This is not to say that nobody benefits from the programs you mention, but I am more than a little suspicious

schemes, some "professional " writing programs, fee-based press or periodical contests, etc. These are often traps for beginning writers. As for the programs you mention, I suspect those who emerge as successful writers may have benefited from the experience in some useful ways, but they probably

A while back a student asked me if I could look at her novel in progress. I said OK, and soon discovered two things: it was pretty bad, and she had already paid an "agent" thousands of dollars for editing. So, writing has been monetized at many levels, such as predatory agencies, self-publishing

White hydrangea flowers on big green bush in front of Starfish House.

Summer: Limelight hydrangea in front of Starfish House.

I didn't know what restless leg was until a doctor identified it for me in my 60s. Gabapentin really works for me; it also helps with nerve pain.

It is nothing like Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and yet it too is eminently worth reading and rereading.

Mandy Patinkin: "I am Mandy Patinkin. l am a Jew. I am an American. I am a human being. I am horrified by what Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are doing in Israel and Gaza. The killing of children, of civilians-this is unconscionable and unthinkable. It is not antisemitic to say this. In fact, compassion for every person in Gaza, for every child, is a deeply Jewish value. I have played the role of Inigo Montoya in 'The Princess Bride.' There's a line: 'I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it's over, I do not know what to do with the rest of my life.' We, as Jews, know what it means to be persecuted. We know what it means to be hated. We must not become the thing we have suffered from. Netanyahu's policies are making the world more dangerous for Jews everywhere. They are creating a generation of wounded and hurt kids who will understandably be very angry. This is not sustainable. This is not acceptable. l urge my fellow Jews, and all people, to speak out. To demand a stop to this violence. To remember our values. To remember our humanity."

Mandy Patinkin’s plea:

I am writing about falling through time.

It me.

#CovidNotOver And today Covid started messing with me again. Two years or so since the first bout. So far annoying but not terrible. I think I will sleep.