Category: news
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Will My Alma Mater Save 9 Million Dollars ?
Tis the season for phonathons — political, religious, and otherwise. Got a call from my alma mater and I was unfortunately unable to give to their phone-a-thon cause this year, but I figure I can give something better. Something that has me REALLY excited, hopeful, and proud: together, we could generate over $ 9 million in savings…
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Self-Abuse Series featuring Brian DeMint
There comes a time in every young writer’s life when he must stop talking about half-bit philosophy, inspirational posters and greeting cards. In the words of Frank Norris (via Stephen King), “What should I care if they single me out for sneers and laughter? I never truckled, I never lied. I told the truth.” I’m about to…
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The Other Side 002: The Love Rally
As I carried our folding chairs, quilts and hummus down the hill into Landreth park’s outdoor amphitheater, multiple colors snagged my attention. Everyone who threw this party had stitched together a tapestry of sheets Technicolor and spray-painted with four red letters: L.O.V.E. What followed was the outworking of what I mentioned a few weeks ago,…
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Mosque Burning and Neighbor Love : The Other Side
On Monday, my local Joplin neighbors witnessed a mosque burning to the ground. Authorities suspect foul play. This is the second time the mosque has been on fire this summer, the first happened on — you guessed it — July 4th. The Joplin Globe featured a picture of Imam Lahmuddin weeping, adding in a sidebar…
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Twoem: A Twitter Poem
In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve taken a week to focus on poetry, to give her the limelight and to beg you not to ignore posts (by anyone, not just me) simply because they have #poetry at the end. In order to emphasize how important it is for you to search out “poetry” in the tag clouds, category…
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Sitting at the feet of : Oppression and Propaganda
Senya Maximov came into my life through the Fulbright program at Missouri Southern. After I shared the only three Russian words I knew (da, spoceba, vodka), and after he shared perfect British English, shared language led to shared life. Joplin felt like Senya’s new home. Though he wanted to stay, his visa expired. I scheduled…
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Why I Never Check the News
I can hardly regret having escaped the appalling waste of time and spirit which would have been involved in reading the war news or taking more than an artificial and formal part in conversations about the war. To read without military knowledge or good maps accounts of fighting which were distorted before they reached the…