Canada Tag

The philosopher Susanne K. Langer wrote, “The notion of giving something a name is the vastest generative idea that ever was conceived.”...

Here's a story that is of quite stunning importance to our country. As the United States adjusts to an increasingly nonreligious population, thousands of churches are closing every year.

There are an estimated 476 million Indigenous Peoples spread across 70 countries worldwide. I lack the space to map the torturous route of finding a day for the US government to honor them, or for The United Nations to recognize their rights in a declaration.

The census?! Who cares? Boring! Well, if you think you know all about the census, you haven’t been paying attention. Enshrining this particular political tool in our Constitution marked a turning point in world history. Previously, censuses had been used to tax, confiscate property, or conscript male youth into military service. The visionary genius of our Founders lay in making this tool of government into a tool of political empowerment for the governed over their government. The plan was to count every person living in the newly created United States of America, and to use that count to determine representation in the Congress. Right now, it’s being manipulated to do just the opposite. But unlike the Postal Service, another fundamental American institution under siege, it isn’t garnering public support, although this is the first time the census has been conducted since the rise of social media, and the first time...

The lilac bushes in my little garden were in bud by mid-January. Parts of Australia are still burning. Kenya is battling its worst desert locust outbreak in 70 years and this time the infestation—a huge dark gray umbrella against the sky—has spread through the eastern part of the continent and the Horn of Africa. I know. You didn’t want to read that. I didn’t want to write it.