To date, over 398,000 Americans have contracted COVID-19 and almost 56,000 have passed away. Trump has shown that he is incapable of protecting Americans during a crisis. He has continued to engage in racist rhetoric during his press briefings and makes claims that hydroxychloroquine will be a “game changer”, despite there being no medical evidence. He has even suggested that […]

Connor Betts is the suspect in the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, which left 9 dead and 27 injured. Patrick Crusius is allegedly responsible for the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, which left 20 dead and 26 wounded. There should be no confusion at this point about the fact that white supremacy is on the rise in America. As […]

The first democratic presidential primary debates took place this past week in Miami, Florida over the course of two nights. Twenty out of twenty three candidates qualified to stand on the debate stage, and ten candidates stood each night (we seriously have to work on pushing some people out of this race). On the first debate night, moderators Chuck Todd […]

There are currently 23 Democratic presidential candidates (yeesh) for the November 2020 election and things are starting to heat up. Nineteen of those candidates visited Iowa recently in an effort to coax voters into jumping on their bandwagon, highlighting some of their most popular policy stances and sharing their personal stories. Soon enough, these candidates will come flocking to Michigan […]

Some thoughts on the “can’t we just be civil?” argument… 1. I have approximately zero interest in remaining “civil” when the “opinions” held by those in power legislate my trans students out of existence…or make it possible to fire gay employees for being gay…or separate kids from their parents at the border…or denigrate women…or refer to Mexicans as rapists…or label […]

I recently returned from a week in Shanghai, China, where I had been invited to speak at a conference and serve as a consultant to a group of Chinese music educators who are developing a music assessment system for use in their schools. While I was there I kept a running log of reflections on what I noticed, and the […]

Everyone is angry. I get it. Our country is as divided as I can remember it being in my lifetime. Friends are divided. Institutions are divided. Families are divided. People that never seemed to be “political” are suddenly, and surprisingly, strident defenders of a particular belief or position–or equally vocal about being against that position. Everywhere you go these days […]

In yet another head scratcher of a move, President* Donald Trump has appointed self-proclaimed “Dance Mom” and Florida political consultant, Mary Anne Carter, to succeed musician and artist Jane Chu as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. In keeping with his penchant for valuing policy chops and qualifications more highly than PR potential and visibility, President Obama appointed […]

Someone is going to have to explain to me the “grievances” these idiots in Charlottesville are protesting about, with their Tiki torches and baseball bats. I’m white, and try as hard as I can, I just can’t come up with anything. A statue being removed? Really? When black men are being murdered for a broken tail light? When schools in inner […]

Paul Ryan wants persons to have the “choice” to not purchase health insurance. Hey, why so timid, Paul? Let’s go Full Monty on this choice stuff, Mr. Speaker. Let’s give persons the “choice” to not purchase auto insurance; I’m sure there won’t be any issues with folks getting into car accidents and just refusing to pay for the damage they […]

Well, it looks like Betsy DeVos is at it again. This time she’s sharing her thoughts about education and teaching with her new friends at CPAC, the conservative political conference going on right now in National Harbor, MD. Here’s a quote from her “prepared remarks” on Thursday: “The faculty, from adjunct professors to deans, tell you what to do, what […]