In a moving speech given by escaped slave Frederick Douglass on July 5th, 1852 (a portion of which is read by Morgan Freeman below), the question is asked, “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?” Here is part of his answer: [The Fourth of July] is a day that reveals to […]
Author: Jason
Power, Piranha-Style
(By John Terranova) Sometimes animals behave in ways we humans would be wise to mimic. Piranhas, surprisingly, inspire me to recreate human society along their noble model. Let me explain. . . . Full gown piranhas are all of similar size. None get large enough to rule the others. Even as vicious predators “that will […]
Itching Beneath the Mask
(This is an abridged excerpt from my latest book. Enjoy. . . .) It is precisely here, when we try to be real, that the true difficulty becomes increasingly overt. If “our Great War is a spiritual war” as Tyler Durden says, then we should expect to be resisted when we begin to question the […]
Elephants, Emperors, and Witchcraft
(By Noelle) The unnamed. It has ever been with me. In my mind, there was always an elephant in the room and the emperor was rarely clothed. As a little girl, the unnamed made me feel bulky and obtuse in a sea of dainty. Sharp and seen. Every absolute presented sent me spinning, and my […]
“I Pledge Allegiance to the Earth…”
(By Christian) “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” I haven’t actually stood facing a flag with my hand over my heart reciting the “Pledge of Allegiance” for decades, but the […]
AA is for Quitters
(This is a short excerpt from my forthcoming novel, That’s Me in the Corner, spoken in the voice of the book’s protagonist, Brody Graham.) *** Christopher was a full-on cokehead junkie, but he got clean and became this puritan who’s always irritating the hell out of everyone, saying things like, “I’m not going to tell you […]