Grading Teachers
Mother Jones published an article about the latest battle on the education front—evaluating teachers, which is re-raising issues about what public school model works best. The implementation of the new…
Politics
1281 posts
Writing on politics at The Rumpus!
National PTSD Awareness Day
The poster person for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a war veteran, which isn’t surprising given that anywhere from 11 to 20 percent of veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and…
Cheez Doodles
“These are financially troubled times for our profession … — times that test our character — and it is disheartening to learn that journalism schools are responding to this challenge…
Tweet Not Lest Ye Be Judged
“If you have a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account, you are already being judged — or will be soon. Companies with names like Klout, PeerIndex and Twitter Grader are in the process of scoring…
An Artist’s Release
Ai Weiwei, a prominent Chinese artist openly critical of the Chinese Communist Party, has been released from prison after a three-month detention. To add to his international acclaim and recognition,…
Burning Books
The contemporary burning of books is taking on a new significance. Burning books is an act historically associated with censorship and limited freedoms, a symptom of an overpowering and centralized…
To Gaze Upon a Weiner: A Rumpus Lamentation with Sad Sexual Parts
Anthony Weiner, the brash congressman from New York City, resigned this past Thursday, after it was revealed that he sent photos of himself, and sexually yearning text messages, to several…
Leaked Mainstream Media Dictionary
Al-Jazeera has started a new project–an online dictionary of words and phrases the mainstream media (which I–though not everyone–would argue they’re a part of) uses when writing/talking about whatever the…
My Interview with Susie Bright, Sex-Positive Feminist
Susie Bright, sex-positive feminist, writer, revolutionary, and my first tongue-kiss with a woman recently released her memoir Big Sex Little Death.
“My Ex-Gay Friend”
“…Michael was fast becoming the leading voice for gay youth until the day, in July 2007, when he announced that he was no longer gay.” Benoit Denizet-Lewis sits down and…
“The White House Wants to Get Him”
I’m still stunned from reading this story on the front page of yesterday ’s New York Times. Officials in George W. Bush’s White House, James Risen reports, directed the Central…
Eat Your Sprouts
“Any potential act of terrorism simply feeds the system, creating new opportunities to add yet more layers to one bureaucracy or another, or to promote new programs of surveillance, control,…