The cartoonist, Lynda Barry, contends that most adults suffer from “play amnesia.” Living in these dark times, many overlook play...
Short Takes
Boos for Kay Ivey & Susan Collins, Remembering a Cousin & More!
Alabama’s Draconian Abortion Law I’m old enough to remember when abortion was illegal and when college friends traveled out of state for an abortion. In 1973 when abortions became legal, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Now decades later anti-abortion fever is in ascendency. This week Alabama’s governor, Kay Ivey signed the cruelest [...]
Pat Taub
Mother’s Day Actions, The New World of A Handmaid’s Tale & Co-Housing
Mother’s Day Actions Sunday is Mother’s Day and peace and justice groups are marking it with actions to support mothers in jail and migrant mothers whose children were taken from them when they crossed the border into the US. For the third year in a row Black justice groups have organized “Black Mama’s Bail Out Day,” raising bail [...]
Pat Taub
Boos for Joe, Mean-Spirited US at the UN, Aretha & More!
Joe Biden Strikes Out This week Joe Biden threw his hat in the 2020 presidential ring. As part of his effort to erase his troubled past he phoned Anita Hill to apologize for his unfair treatment of her during the Clarence Thomas sexual harassment hearings, which Biden chaired. Hill wasn’t having any of Biden’s half-apology, commenting [...]
Pat Taub
Green New Deal Video, Kate and Oscar, Queer Eye & More
A Brilliant Green New Deal Video The Internet is burning up with a wonderful graphic video endorsing the Green New Deal. The video illustrates the many positive things we can do to save our planet from extinction. I think it got over 4 million hits on the first day! The video is narrated by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and drawn by the award [...]
Pat Taub
Julian Assange, Signs of Spring, Living with Cancer & More!
Julian Assange My heart is heavy with the imprisonment of Julian Assange and what it portends for freedom of the press. If Assange is extradited to the US he will no doubt be tortured and placed in solitary confinement, which is just another form of torture, sending the message to reporters everywhere that their sources will be compromised. Whistle [...]
Pat Taub
Back Home, Bad Boeing, Bad Biden & More!
Arriving Home I’m back home in Maine as of early Sunday morning when I returned from my winter escape to Palm Springs, CA. This was my first extended stay in the desert, which made me aware that I prefer the ocean to the desert. Even so Palm Springs has its own natural beauty with its exotic desert blooms, great hiking trails and soaring [...]
Pat Taub
Agnes Verda, The Movie “Us,” A Great Novel & More!
Agnes Varda Leaves Us My heart is heavy having learned this morning that the enormously talented and break-through French filmmaker Agnes Varda died at age 90. She was the only woman director in the 1950’s French New Wave movement whose blend of fiction and nonfiction transformed films. Agnes’ playful twist on life made me a huge fan. [...]
Pat Taub
Native American Films, Student Climate Strike, “The Wife” & More!
Native American Films Last weekend I attended the Palm Springs Native American Film Fest, which opened with a documentary about the Native American Pulitzer Prize winning author and poet, Scott Momaday. Next I watched several short documentaries about life on the reservation, punctuated by poverty and deep familial bonds. I loved the film [...]
Pat Taub
International Women’s Day, Omar, Native American Films & More!
International Women’s Day Today we celebrate International Women’s Day, a day that takes me back to the summer of 1995 when I was fortunate enough to attend the UN Women’s Conference in Beijing. I went as an NGO (Non Government Organization), attending eye-opening seminars and panels, where Third World women challenged their privileged [...]
Pat Taub
A Street Poet, Cohen, A Great Documentary & More!
Palm Springs Street Poet I love it when my walks land upon a bit of whimsy and creative fun. A week or so ago while wandering in downtown Palm Springs I spotted the “typewriter troubadour,” offering to type an original poem for $10. I was intrigued but not willing to spend that much money. The poet told me that this is his only job. [...]
Pat Taub