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I READ THE NEWS TODAY, OH . . . S**T!

by bslev 5/17/2012 - 8:18 am

One of the pleasant manifestations of my own encounter with the aging process is that I still look forward to delving into the paper paper that magically appears outside of our apartment door on weekdays.  My three older children, all far more literate than their aging Dad, rarely if ever even think of reading a paper made of paper.  I have reminded them now and then that there are real working people depending on that paper paper, to which the most cogent response I get has something to do with the color green and something about the environment.

But, as usual, this curmudgeon in wait digresses yet again--my wife claims I am the only one in the world who is 52 and going on 80.  This blog is about what I've read this morning, and there is no need for caffeine to get me going today. [Read more]

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Non-Violent Resistance With the Threat of Violence

by bslev 5/14/2012 - 9:35 am

There are more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners currently engaged in a hunger strike in Israeli prisons, purportedly to protest inhumane conditions, the lack of family visits, and the practice of administrative detention (under which certain prisoners can be held indefinitely without charge, subject to judicial review).   Two of these prisoners have  refused food for more than 70 days--both members of Islamic Jihad, an organization committed to Israel's destruction and which is responsible for hundreds of Isr [Read more]

"GOOGLE WALL STREET JEWS!"

by bslev 10/5/2011 - 2:08 pm

I was thinking of writing a short little piece about how impressed and proud I was of the mostly young protesters who I spent time with yesterday in that park downtown next to the Trinity Church. I had just finished an appearance in the bankruptcy court down by Bowling Green, and I was sporting a spiffy blue pin-striped suit, a white shirt, and a lovely bluish white striped tie. So I guess I could easily have been mistaken for a Wall Street banker, but I was dressing as I always do when appearing in strange forums like Article I's bankruptcy courts, and I figured what the heck let me check it out. [Read more]

PROGRESSIVE PURITY AT WHAT COST?

by bslev 8/9/2011 - 8:40 pm

I am trying to understand and fully respect those who are so fed up with President Obama that they cannot see voting or supporting him next year.  I am trying to understand and genuinely respect those who urge us to pursue efforts to challenge Obama in the primaries.  But I draw a line in the sand when I read that it doesn't matter whether a Republican or an Obama wins the election next year.  That's just wrong and it's dangerous and, respectfully, it is selfish.. [Read more]

LEVINES TAKE LAKESHORE!

by bslev 8/9/2011 - 12:29 pm

So today I started the day out at a defined benefit pension fund meeting for union workers.  There was nothing good about it, except that it was sort of a metaphor for so much of what is wrong with our country. 

But stuff happens, and life does go on.  And when I got back to the office, I saw that my three older children, Samantha, Amy, and Todd had produced a blog, which I link to here.  It's about the Chicago Marathon, which each of them is training to run in this October.  Please check it out, and tell them Dad sent you over from dagblog.

Life does go on.  Chins up!

Bruce

HAPPY BIRTHDAY . . . ABBY

by bslev 8/4/2011 - 11:05 am

I understand that there is at least one famous person celebrating a birthday today but in my home today is the day that my wife Abby was born.   She rocks.  Here's a little tune to celebrate as we revel in that summer wind.

 

 

 

COME TOGETHER PEOPLE--THE CHILDREN OF SOMALIA

by bslev 8/2/2011 - 9:24 am

It is estimated that there are 500,000 children starving to death in Somalia.  David Seaton pointed this out to us a few weeks ago and the problem has not and will not go away.  There are political issues involving the ongoing war between the Shabab militants and the weak and barely functioning central  government, and this has exacerbated the situation in this particular corner of the Horn of Africa during its worst drought in decades.  The  world's various relief agencies are begging for contributions.  And, for the most part, they are not being heard.   [Read more]

Kudos to Dagbloggers

by bslev 7/29/2011 - 12:36 pm

This is more like a mass e-mail than a blogpost, but I wanted to express my appreciation for the robust debates and discussions I've been able to enjoy in the recent past.  Candidly, I often don't feel qualified to participate in some of the colloquy, but I'm not afraid to sit on the sidelines and learn from folks I agree and disagree with.  I am hoping for a return of  a few of the regulars who have taken a break over the last month but, in the interim, I think we're on a roll.

Here are the two major issues that I cull from what's been written about: [Read more]

THE BAD BOSS AWARD--EVERY VOTE COUNTS

by bslev 7/25/2011 - 6:28 pm

I apologize for my second post in one day, but I thought I would provide dagbloggers with the opportunity to vote in Working America's Bad Boss Contest.  The field has been narrowed to six semifinalists. The winner gets a one-week vacation plus $1,000 for travel expenses.  I'm pulling for Bad Barista from California, whose boss threatened to fire her for leaving work in an ambulance with heart trouble (only to lose her health insurance a few weeks later).  Bad Barista writes: [Read more]

I See Dead People

by bslev 7/25/2011 - 9:28 am

It's been a very busy summer and I have not blogged in a while. But some of the reactions to the Norwegian massacre cry out for brief comment.  It is absolutely shameful how people on the left and the right, in blazing knee-jerk fashion, have attempted to shove the as yet unburied bodies of the children who were killed on Friday into their own hideous and narrow-minded worldviews.   [Read more]

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