Lev Raphael's Blog, page 24

Will a Michigan Book Award Become More Diverse?

I recently blogged about a serious gap in the history of the Michigan Notable Book Awards.

These awards have been sponsored by the Library of Michigan since 2004, but go back almost 25 years. Each year judges pick 20 Notable Michigan books "reflective of Michigan's diverse ethnic, historical, literary, and cultural experience."



But there've been limits to that diversity.

There haven't been any books with major LGBT content among the books annually celebrated and publicized statewide. Th...

Susan Sarandon and Robert De Niro Need Better Lines

Susan Sarandon blew up the Internet with her comments about not voting for Hillary Clinton if Bernie Sanders didn't get the Democratic nomination. She was pressed in an interview and said that having Trump as President might not be a bad thing because

'some people feel that Donald Trump will bring the revolution immediately if he gets in, things will really explode.' Asked if she thinks that's 'dangerous,' she replied, 'It's dangerous to think that we can continue the way we are with the...

Susan Sarandon and Robert De Niro Are Political Clowns

Susan Sarandon blew up the Internet with her comments about not voting for Hillary Clinton if Bernie Sanders didn't get the Democratic nomination. She was pressed in an interview and said that voting for Trump might not be a bad thing because

'some people feel that Donald Trump will bring the revolution immediately if he gets in, things will really explode.' Asked if she thinks that's 'dangerous,' she replied, 'It's dangerous to think that we can continue the way we are with the militariz...

Donald Trump in Yiddish

Nicholas Kristof wrote this past weekend in the New York Times that there's never been "a national politician in the U.S. who is so ill informed, evasive, puerile and deceptive as Trump."

People have been using all sorts of juicy Yiddish expletives to describe Trump, but there's a comical word in Yiddish, not widely known, that fits Trump to a "T." It's not vulgar, either, just profoundly sarcastic.

The word is "trumbenik," which The Joys of Yiddish by Leo Rosten says comes from the Polish...

Academic Bullies Treat Adjuncts Like Serfs

Every year, colleges and universities spend more money on their marquee sports teams and their proliferating administrators, and less on faculty. Meanwhile, "contingent" faculty do the same work as tenure track professors at less than half the pay. But at many schools, more than 50% of the faculty are adjuncts -- without them, those colleges and universities simply could not function.

Conditions for adjuncts are often abysmal and push them to quit despite their love of teaching: bad pay, too...

Academic Bullies Treat Adjuncts Like Shit

Every year, colleges and universities spend more money on their marquee sports teams and their proliferating administrators, and less on faculty. Meanwhile, "contingent" faculty do the same work as tenure track professors at less than half the pay. But at many schools, more than 50% of the faculty are adjuncts -- without them, those colleges and universities simply could not function.

Conditions for adjuncts are often abysmal and push them to quit despite their love of teaching: bad pay, too...

How the Media Plays the GOP's Game

Back at the height of the birther craziness, which the GOP aided and abetted, Donald Trump supposedly sent a team of investigators to Hawaii. This is what he reported:

"I have people that have been studying it and they cannot believe what they're finding."

What did they uncover?

Have you heard a single reporter or debate moderator in this election cycle ask Trump about what his investigators found?




The press slavishly reported all of his blather about the president's supposed foreig...

How Universities Drive Away Adjuncts

You read stories all the time about adjunct college professors who quit because they're badly paid, worked too hard, don't have health insurance, and don't even have get decent office space. They love what they do, but eventually the negatives make their jobs impossible.

I hear adjuncts' stories from around the country, and there's another big reason people who love teaching have to escape: their colleagues, who can be anything from capricious to spiteful.

Many adjuncts get out because they...

How Academia Drives Adjuncts Away

You read stories all the time about adjunct college professors who quit because they're badly paid, worked too hard, don't have health insurance, and don't even have get decent office space. They love what they do, but eventually the negatives make their jobs impossible.

I hear adjunct's stories from around the country, and there's another big reason people who love teaching have to escape: their colleagues.

Many adjuncts get out because they can't stand dealing with academics who become in...

Is Joe Scarborough a Counter-Terrorism Expert?

I switch back and forth between CNN and MSNBC for news over breakfast, but usually don't stay at the latter for long because Morning Joe can be such a swamp of narcissism.

Like today. The guest I caught was Malcolm Nance, author of Defeating Isis. Nance is a former Navy intelligence officer and recognized around the world as an expert on counter-terrorism and torture.



But Joe Scarborough thinks he knows more than Nance about those issues. Wait till you hear why.

They got into an argument...