occasional posts by risa aratyr
thoughts, news, and items of writerly interest
It’s not the time the Despicable D (hereinafter referred to as “45”) has been in office. It’s how much has happened in that time – how many appointments, hearings, nominations, confirmations, executive orders, policy changes, tweets, phone calls, purged government web-pages, firings, hirings, leaks, lawsuits, demonstrations, bills, interviews, judicial decisions, and altercations with the press … Read more Under Fire
In this time of extreme polarization, it’s no surprise to find two diametrically opposed views duking it out on news and social media. Over the airwaves, in Tweets and memes, in articles, editorials, and blogs like this, two camps are facing off and having at it. One exhorts us to keep it civil, the other … Read more Day 2
With the exception of Santa, nothing says “December” like end-of-year lists. Ten Best of 2016. Ten Worst of 2016. Favorite books, films, interviews, ads, music, episodes, goals. Most epic blunders, disasters, tragedies, deaths, breakups. The good-est do-gooders, the bad-est badasses. Triumphs and failures, ups and downs, highlights and low points – all summarized, categorized, and itemized … Read more In Defense of 2016
With a Kremlin puppet poised to move into the White House, with our beleaguered social and environmental protections already falling to the incipient Fourth Reich, with an empowered extreme-Right attacking vulnerable populations in Congress and state legislatures, and with white supremacists celebrating the demise of the only values that gave America a legitimate claim to greatness … Read more On a Personal Note
In 2008, Yes! we could and Yes! we did elect Barack Hussein Obama President of the United States. We put a Black man in the Oval Office. First time ever. It was a real milestone. The world at-large was so sure that under an Obama Administration the US would finally live up to all the … Read more Screening Our Candidates