Jan. 6 — what an embarrassing and reprehensible anniversary we created for ourselves. Just over a year ago, under the urging of a once-impeached (and then, wouldn’t you know it, impeached again) president, thousands took it upon themselves to trash the U.S. Capitol, smear feces on its walls,…
Aretha Franklin. Tom Petty. Sarah Weddington. Ruth Bader Ginsburg. John Lewis. Colin Powell. John McCain. Mary Tyler Moore. Betty White (on New Year’s Eve day, of all cruel things!). Valerie Harper. Cloris Leachman. Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. Sidney Poitier. David Bowie. Mary Wilson.…
I think Ron Burgundy said it best: “That escalated quickly.”Head over to El Paso County Public Health’s website and the trajectory of the coronavirus here — driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant — is starting to look like an alpinist’s dream. The incidence rate in the county this m…
As a resident of City Council District 3, I’ve been paying attention to Council’s deliberations on who should replace Richard Skorman for the rest of his term. I care about who represents me, as do countless other residents. (Quite a few people who no longer live here care too … but that’s a…
As we emerge from the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attempted coup at the U.S. Capitol, we face a bitter truth: The attack is not over. The insurrectionists went home a year ago, but American democracy today faces a greater existential threat than ever before. At the end of December, AP News mad…
Corporate America has proudly elevated good moral values to a special place. That place is the trash can.
Among those still in the if-everyone-would-only-ignore-Trump-he’d-simply-go-away camp, Joe Biden finally realized that the concept wasn’t working. Not only was it not working, it was a disaster. And not only has it been a disaster, there’s no easy way to fix it.
The 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor was commemorated last month. The event, of course, drew the United States into World War II — a war that would not have been won without the contribution of Black Americans, a fact that often flies under the radar.
“...and the hardest realism there is: that ofhope.”I have this saved in a screen shot in my phone. I also saved this:The thing isto love life, to love it evenwhen you have no stomach for itand everything you’ve held dearcrumbles like burnt paper in your hands,your throat filled with the silt…
What if we cared about unsheltered humans as much as we did stray animals? I started pondering this last week, just before the New Year holiday. My wonderful pup and I were out for one of our long rambles and she is very good at letting me know when she sees something interesting. Early on, …
Jan. 6 — what an embarrassing and reprehensible anniversary we’ve created for ourselves. One year ago today, under the urging of an once-impeached (and then, wouldn’t you know it, impeached again) president, thousands took it upon themselves to trash the U.S. Capitol, smear feces on its wall…
The paragraph factory was closed up for a whole week, that no-man’s land between Christmas and New Year's. For a degenerate workaholic like myself, the downtime was grueling. Needed, sure, but to have it during both the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history and amid another tragic, s…
Dear Council Members,
It’s the first few days back to work after a much-needed break for the Indy team. I spent several days of the break visiting my parents on their hobby farm in northern Mississippi. So, along the lines of the “What I did on my break” assignments we used to get back in middle school, here’s wh…
I spent the first day of the new year with my boyfriend, driving from San Diego to Colorado Springs. Approximately five minutes into our 17-hour road trip, the U-Haul trailer hitched to the back of our car became very much unhitched, and we watched in abject horror as it swayed and screeched…
While it is easy to fall into the trap of "climate change hysteria" as I like to call it, we must look at the threat of wildfires in December and snowstorms in March from a measured point of view.
Some years ago, a young, sorta-hippyish couple knocked on my front door. They had noticed that I had fig trees in the yard, laden with summer fruit. If I wasn’t going to pick them all, they asked, could they harvest some figs? Since I was about to take a trip, I said: Sure, have at ’em.
Winter is magical time. Whether the snow is falling or not, shorter days and longer nights invite us to snuggle up with a book or a good movie and spend quiet time with those we love. In many spiritual traditions, it’s suggested we turn inward during this time of year and reflect on the ups…
Let me confess straight away that I have no idea why Joe Manchin decided after months of negotiations to announce — and on Fox News yet — that he was single-handedly blowing up the centerpiece of Joe Biden’s first-year agenda. Negotiations were still ongoing, and while Manchin’s objections w…
Goodbye and good riddance, 2021! I had such high hopes for you, though, in retrospect, they may not have been realistic. At any rate, 2021 almost seems like it’s been worse than the year preceding it.Don’t get me wrong: There were bright spots! Chief among those was the opportunity to get v…
Somewhere in a store, Mariah Carey is explaining that all she wants for Christmas is you, as patrons complete their last-minute shopping.
It’s nearly a brand spanking New Year! It’s time to shake off the doldrums of 2021.
This month of warm tidings has been rife with examples of how we fail to value lower-income families and the working class in the United States. You’d think we would know better after all that talk from early in the pandemic about how frontline workers showed up for this country.
Christmas is a few days away and colorful lights, inflatable reindeer, extended shopping hours and caroling bands of high school students remind us that it’s a special time. Gallup statistics say more than 90 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas. That’s interesting, because Pew research …
Homesickness is really wrecking my reputation as not-a-crier — three times in the past two days! Basically every time I’ve talked to or about my family, it’s ended in tears.
By this time of year, we’ve usually had at least one snowfall that’s covered the grass, even if just for a little while. But the weather has stayed so warm — and exceedingly dry — for so long this year that I have considered turning on the AC more than once this side of summer.
Is there anyone associated with your magazine that isn't a liberal who hates Donald Trump and conservatives?
10 things I hope you weren’t doing yesterday:10. Tightrope walking9. Trying out that new toupee on a first date8. Wearing a kilt7. Driving a semi (I passed about 20 laying on their sides like beached whales)6. Hot air ballooning5. Being a bird4. Being a utility pole3. Jumping jacks in the pa…
I can’t help but notice how many former military intelligence officers are involved in the efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, and I’m not the only one.
Dear City Council,
Folks, we’ve raised a generation of cynics — and they’re not wrong.
I have a young progressive friend who is working toward a Ph.D. and plans to be a professor of something or other.
This Thanksgiving, we as a nation relished the opportunity to slow down and gather with our families and friends in gratitude (and we’ll continue to do so through this holiday season). Although the “historical” narrative we learned about “the first Thanksgiving” spoke of a peaceful gathering…
’Tis the season, right? Traditionally, this time of year celebrates spirituality and festivities — including Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa.
’Tis the season to be Jolly — except many of us aren’t. The holiday season is also a time of loss and grief. We miss those who won’t be joining us for festivities, those who have passed away and those who have moved away. Those we’ve separated from or divorced.
I’m going home for the holidays.For me, that’s a small town (population 2,500) in northern Mississippi, home of Sardis Lake, barbecue and more churches than you can shake a stick at.We’ll watch sappy Hallmark Channel holiday movies with my daddy, former owner of a construction company who is…
To commemorate the end of 2021, sharing with you all my most frequently revisited poems this year, in no particular order and from no particular time period.“Pattern” by Garous AbdolmalekianYour dress waving in the wind.Thisis the only flag I love.“In a Time of Peace” by Ilya KaminskyInhabit…
The days after Daylight Saving Time suddenly seem so very short and the nights so very long.
I grew up in the Midwest in the late ’50s and early ’60s, and like many of you, growing up wherever and whenever you did, I have fond memories — taste memories — of those days.
I’d like to announce that I took some time off the week after Thanksgiving.
Bernie Sanders puts it bluntly: “Question: What does it say about a political party that has to repeatedly gerrymander districts to continue to hold power, that has to make it harder for people of color and for poor people to vote?"
