Journalist – Historian – Speaker
In response to the recent shooting of Quintonio Legrier and Bettie Jones, embattled mayor Rahm Emanuel has made a decision – give all cops Tasers. Chicago’s mayor and police superintendent will announce Wednesday afternoon that every police officer who responds to service calls will be equipped with a Taser and properly trained to use it …
Yesterday I wrote about my year of published writing. Here’s my review of a year of blogging. I wrote 312 blog posts in 2015. They vary in length and topic and I have no means to search them and organized a word cloud or tag cloud. Help? 2015 also featured the great migration to Wix, …
Last December, I published a year-in-review for my “published writing” and “blogging” in review. I’ve decided to make it a tradition, in part just to keep track, and maybe to suggest a few pieces that didn’t get the readership I feel they deserved. I had 61 pieces published in 2015 (unless I forgot to note …
I wrote a piece for Pacific Standard that many people seem to have read (it was their most popular story on the site for 5 days or so. I gather that must mean something) on the systematic abuse of disabled children by teachers and other staff in schools and institutions across America. In the piece, …
This Facebook post from Mosul Eye, a source that I’m told has some track record of reliability, shows a video of disabled children (just hanging out, really), then claims the following: Through monitoring and following the death incidents of children with Down’s Syndrome and congenital deformities, we were able to learn that the Shar’i Board …
The Mighty is a well-funded website that publishes personal essays about disability. Narratives tend to be parent-driven or illness-driven, but they throw a huge amount of content out at the internet without much editorial oversight. The editors search through the vibrant disability-related blogosphere and ask to republish essays for free as well as publishing essays …
I have a book review out with postemedieval on a collection of recent books about the state and future of higher education. “Where are we going? Why are we in this handbasket?” is open access. You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.– Rahm Emmanuel, Mayor of ChicagoEvery week, another cry of crisis reverberates …
Three published pieces this week. Two on disability and violence, and one on Star Wars. Star Wars and the Fan-Fictionalization of American Pop Culture (Vice.com, 12/18/2015) Beyond the Crisis: Philip Coleman, the Chicago PD, and Mental Illness Response (CNN.com, 12/17/2015) When Police Abuse Disabled Children (Pacific Standard, 12/17/2015) The CNN piece didn’t get as much readership as the …
My son, like many children with disabilities, has some acute sensory issues. T-shirt tags bother him incessantly, and the advent of the printed label is wonderful. We try not to buy shirts that have tags, and when we do … Universal design for T-shirts is: no tags! #Sensory pic.twitter.com/iLnupk1fZ8 — David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) December …
An Islamophobic hate-rally was held in Prague last weekend, featuring Neo-Nazi songs, chants of “Burn down all the mosques,” and, interestingly to me, people in Crusader costumes. Here’s some images: Dressed as Crusaders to hear Neo-Nazi singer: Czechs march for president, against refugees https://t.co/cqKpMRIQuQ pic.twitter.com/thQhKrDOtw — Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) December 16, 2015 So this is a …