Beacon Broadside

Jay Wexler: Supreme March Madness: The SCOTUS Pool

March 26, 2009

Today’s post is from law professor and humorist Jay Wexler, author of the forthcoming Holy Hullabaloos: A Road Trip to the Battlegrounds of the Church/State Wars. He studied religion at the University of Chicago Divinity School and law at Stanford, and worked as a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Wexler teaches at the Boston University School of Law, and he blogs at holyhullabaloos.typepad.com, where this post originally appeared.

So, I thought I’d say a few words here about March Madness, because what else is there really to talk about in March other than March Madness? Can you imagine how crappy the month of March would be if it weren’t for March Madness? All these way-too-cold days with no days off anywhere or holidays to break up the monotony? Anyway, I’ve been a fan of college basketball since I was a kid. Not a huge madman like fan or anything, but generally a fan. As a kid I rooted for BC, since they were the only real player on the college basketball scene, but when I went to law school, I went to a bunch of Stanford games and became a much bigger Stanford fan than a BC fan. I was even at the game in February of 1995 when the Stanford Tree got into an actual, not kidding around fight with Oski the Bear, the Cal mascot, right there on the court in Maples Pavilion. Karen and I were in the stands close to where the struggle took place, and a cop came by and asked the fans in our section if we had seen which mascot had started the fight. It was Oski, that piece of crap.

I don’t really know if it was Oski, just in case someone was thinking of bringing a libel suit.

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Troubling New Military Strategy in Afghanistan

March 19, 2009

Today’s post is from Garry Leech, the author of Beyond Bogotá: Diary of a Drug War Journalist in Colombia and Crude Interventions: The United States, Oil and the New World Disorder. Leech is an independent journalist and editor of Colombia Journal.

With the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan struggling on the battlefield against a resilient insurgency and opium poppy cultivation on the rise, Navy admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently suggested that the United States should import the counterinsurgency and counternarcotics model currently being employed in Colombia to Afghanistan. “I think many of us from all over the world can learn from what has happened with respect to the very successful developments of Plan Colombia,” Mullen stated, adding that the counterinsurgency approach used in Colombia would be applicable to Afghanistan.

Not surprisingly, Mullen and others who advocate transferring the Plan Colombia model to Afghanistan point to improved security in Colombia’s major population centers and a dramatic reduction in murders and kidnappings in recent years. While a significant percentage of the Colombian population has indeed benefitted from these successes, Mullen and others conveniently ignore the humanitarian crisis that has resulted from this establishment of “security” and Plan Colombia’s complete failure as a counternarcotics initiative.

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Link Roundup: Death in Ireland, Sexual Assualt in the Military, Extreme Motherhood

March 19, 2009

A community tries to save Shaman Drum bookshop in Ann Arbor.

Nan Mooney talks about finding her baby daddy.

“To Always Live in Ireland.” At Obit, Suzanne Strempek Shea discusses memory trees in Ireland.While you’re there, check out her piece about funerals in a small Irish town.

A greener Mouse? Fred Pearce says–sorry Mickey–no.

Using placebos as legitimate treatment options.

Uh… President Obama, we know you’ve got a lot to do these days, but when are you going to pick your Women’s bracket?

Beacon Media links:

On TV: Helen Benedict, author of The Lonely Soldier, was briefly featured in this NBC Nightly News feature on sexual assault in the military. Also, Alan Collinge appeared on Democracy Now! with Jesse Jackson, talking about crippling student loans.

On Radio: Lisa Mullins interviews Rashid Khalidi on PRI’s The World.

In Print: A look at “Extreme Motherhood” by Quiverfull author Kathryn Joyce.

Online: More Kathryn Joyce on Salon.com: an article about Vyckie Garrison, a mother of seven who is a former member of the Quiverfull movement.
Spring Arrives at Stone Prairie Farm: Time to Burn the Prairie

March 17, 2009

Today’s post is from Steven I. Apfelbaum, author of Nature’s Second Chance: Restoring the Ecology of Stone Prairie Farm. Apfelbaum is founder, president, and senior ecologist of the firm Applied Ecological Services, known for its international science-based ecological design and restoration work. He lives in Juda, Wisconsin, on Stone Prairie Farm.

The flocks of sprinting robins bulleting across the sky criss-crossed the seemingly less focused red winged black birds with their slower bounding flight. Today, a cacophony of bird calls has startled the landscape from the near silence and sleepiness of winter. Birds are everywhere, momentarily landing, then departing as the edgiest or most eager in the flock again takes wing. An amazing energy prevails, with the whipping south wind bowing last years’ standing prairie grass stems, clouds quickly moving east, imparting a dappled pattern of light and shadow on the prairie.

Today was the last day of Applied Ecological Services, Inc., annual corporate meetings, a gathering of 150 staff where, to break the ice, frog calls and cheering competitions preceded the business of hearing of the company’s performance over the last year and a rally for the times ahead. To get this many pyromaniacs together would normally be a liability, but to those us of doing ecosystem restoration, it’s a blessing. At the meeting I planted the bug. “Sure looks like a good day to do a prescribed burn of the prairie at Stone Prairie Farm,” I said in the ear of Aaron, one of the fire crew bosses. And just like the high school game, post office, word came around in the affirmative minutes later.

It all happened so fast that Susan and I missed most of the prairie burn. Like the speeding birds, this spring tradition of burning the prairies, the big flames and immersion in the sweet smoke, lured 20-30 staff to the farm. When I arrived nearly an hour later, I parked and looked over the farm from a promontory. I could see the yellow flames spiking and billows of white smoke emanating behind each yellow Nomex-suited person as they walked across the prairie dripping fire from a red drip torch. The migrating birds were popping out of the smoke and haze, like jets on final approach do when the stratus clouds hang low over the airport.

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Benjamin Netanyahu and the Settlements

March 13, 2009

Today’s post is from Philip C. Winslow, author of Victory For Us Is to See You Suffer: In the West Bank with the Palestinians and the Israelis. Winslow has been a journalist and foreign correspondent for more than twenty years; he has worked for the Christian Science Monitor, the Toronto Star, Maclean’s magazine, ABC radio news, CTV News, and CBC radio. He also served in two United Nations peacekeeping missions and spent nearly three years living in the West Bank.

What are the prospects for movement toward a Palestinian state while Benjamin Netanyahu is prime minister of a rightist, nationalist Israeli government? Many Palestinians and Israelis sense a gloomy déjà vu. The historian Avi Shlaim described the beginning of the hard-line Likud leader’s first term, from 1996 to 1999.

“As prime minister Netanyahu was not as bad as people thought he would be when he was competing for the top post – he was much, much worse. Within a very short time he succeeded in alienating most of his countrymen and all of Israel’s allies abroad,” Shlaim wrote in his excellent 2007 biography Lion of Jordan: the Life of King Hussein in War and Peace.

A few months after taking office in 1996, Netanyahu provocatively ordered the opening of a Hasmonean tunnel near the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City; rumors spread that the explosion had damaged the foundations of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. Shlaim wrote of the consequences:

By giving the order to blast open a new entrance to the 2,000-year-old tunnel, Netanyahu also blasted away the last faint hopes of a peaceful dialogue with the Palestinians. The action set off a massive outburst of Palestinian anger and ignited the flames of confrontation . . . the violence intensified and engulfed the entire West Bank and Gaza. In three days of bloody clashes 14 Israeli soldiers and 54 Palestinians died.”

Although Netanyahu obstructed the Oslo process in those years, it’s possible that this time around he could strategically shift to the center, if he can stave off the collapse of his coalition government. Much may depend on how he responds to pressure (if any) from President Obama and his regional point man, veteran diplomat and former senator George Mitchell, who has traveled this road before.

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Reading on the Kindle: Notes from a Beacon Press Staffer

March 11, 2009

Beacon is now selling several hundred books a month via Amazon’s Kindle program–Man’s Search For Meaning, Sowing Crisis, and Kindred are among our best-selling titles in the Kindle store. So far, we have one resident devotee of the elegant e-reader: Sales Assistant Sara Hatch. Beacon Broadside asked her a few questions about Kindle and what she’s using it to read.

Tell our readers a little bit about yourself.
At Beacon, I work with our marketing department on Sales, Ebooks, and help with updates to our website. I’m a graduate of Boston University with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism. I grew up in Connecticut and have lived in Boston, D.C., and London. I’ve written for several publications including Roll Call and the New London Day. I got my start in publishing at MIT Press. In my spare time, I read and watch movies and TV on my computer.

How long have you had a Kindle?
I’ve had it for about a week now.

Speaking as a consumer–and not as an employee of a publishing house–do you think that the $9.99 price for a new book is a good value?
A lot of the books I’ve bought aren’t $9.99, more like $5 or $6 dollars, which is a nice value. I think if it’s a brand new hardcover and you can get it for $9.99, it’s a steal. Books are so expensive, and they’re my one extravagance, so it’s nice to be able to spend $5 or $6 dollars on a book that would cost me $7 or more in a store. I can also carry several books around with me at once, which is good for me since I generally don’t read just one book at a time.

What books do you have on your Kindle?
I have the collected works of Shakespeare, Jane Austen and sixteen Dickens novels. They have relatively cheap collections of several authors like that. It cost me about $7 total for all of those, a great deal. I also have two books by Charlaine Harris from the “Sookie Stackhouse” series (which is the basis for the HBO series “True Blood”) and a sample of a book by Kim Harrison, another fantasy writer. You can download a sample from any book on Kindle for free, which is a really nice feature.

Has using the Kindle made your bag lighter, or do you still carry a bunch of traditional books around?
I’m not sure if my bag will ever be light but I definitely don’t carry as many books any more.

Have your reading habits changed?
I don’t think they’ve changed. I think it’s a lot easier to read on my morning commute since the Kindle is a lot less cumbersome. I have a 45 minute commute both ways so I can get a lot of reading down.

Do you have any Beacon Press books on your Kindle?
Not yet, but I hope to put some on at some point. I can email manuscripts straight to my Kindle—an awesome feature.
The Three ‘P’s: An Education System Where Play is its Own Reward

March 6, 2009

Today’s post is from Chris Mercogliano author of In Defense of Childhood: Protecting Kids’ Inner Wildness. Mercogliano has been a teacher at the Albany Free School since 1973 and co-director since 1985.

It was heartening to see the New York Times tout the importance of play in school settings. But how sad that the excommunication of play from American culture has reduced the discussion of its value to the question of whether five percent of the school day should be sacrificed to recess; or God forbid, should it be ten?

Let me lay my bias out straight. For thirty-seven years I have been involved with an independent school for students ages 2-14 in which students spend the overwhelming majority of their time playing. And by this I don’t mean learning games or organized sports, although they sometimes participate in them too. What I’m talking about here is play as defined by Jean Piaget: “actions that are an end in themselves and do not form part of any series of actions imposed by someone else or from outside.” Real play, in other words, is its own reward. It involves imagination, improvisation, and quite often the natural world. It’s when kids engage in making-believe, horsing around, and inventing their own games. It’s when they paint, or draw, or sing, or dance, or write a poem or story, not in order to fulfill an English or art assignment, but to answer the call of the Muse.

A great many observers consider our approach, which I once teasingly described to a dubious Alfie Kohn as the “summer camp” model of education, to be romantic or naive, if not downright irresponsible or crazy. A dose of play here and there is fine, certainly. As the Times article noted, kids’ brains need a rest once in a while. Their bodies also need exercise, and everyone recognizes the vital role of play in social development. But at the end of the day, learning is serious business and a lot of hard work.

Or is it? Let’s examine the evidence for a moment, which increasingly confirms the fundamental contributions play makes to every aspect of a child’s growth.

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Link Roundup: Indie Next Poetry Picks, New Press Blog Aggregator, Rashid Khalidi Media

March 6, 2009

I've put together an aggregator of University and Independent Publisher blogs, where right now you can find items like "Books are Like Radio, E-Books are Like TV," a reminder to use your librarian, and a look at Fisher Poets. If I missed your blog, my apologies and please add it to the list.

Mary Oliver's forthcoming collection, Evidence, holds the number one spot in the Indie Next List Poetry Top Ten. The list is timed to coincide with National Poetry Month in April, which is only a few short weeks away.

Rashid Khalidi is the subject of a feature article in this week's Chronicle Review. Don't want to read? Watch him on Charlie Rose instead. Prefer sound without pictures? Listen to him on the Diane Rehm Show.

Read an excerpt from Kathryn Joyce's Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement
in the latest Mother Jones.

Op-ed by Jeremy Adam Smith, author of The Daddy Shift, about how the recession might allow more fathers to be the primary caregiver.

Jay Wexler. Ten Questions. The author of Holy Hullabaloos talks to Religion Dispatches his religious road trip.
Here, There, and Everywhere: Preventing Lead Poisoning Requires Strong Regulation

March 3, 2009

Today’s post is from Lydia Denworth, author of Toxic Truth: A Scientist, a Doctor, and the Battle over Lead. Denworth is a former Newsweek reporter and People bureau chief. Her writing on science, education, and other social issues has appeared in the New York Times, Redbook, Health, and other publications. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three sons.

Back in August of 2007, I was trying to work on vacation. I was squirreled away in a back bedroom surrounded by files and books when I got a Google alert. Millions of toys were being recalled because of dangerously high levels of leads.

It was a bittersweet moment. When I started work on a book about the battle over lead, I heard a lot about how lead was a problem of the past. That, of course, was part of the point: the book was about what it took to be able to say exactly that. But I often said that lead has a way of coming back to haunt us.

Looking at the email, I wanted to throw open the screen door and shout: I told you so! At the same time, who wants to be right about such a thing? If only it were a problem of the past. For one thing, I wouldn’t have to now run to the toy bin and extract every Thomas the Tank Engine.

Furthermore, I was literally surrounded by the history of the battle over lead. Within arm’s reach was a book that mentioned the first federal pamphlet warning parents about the dangers of lead in toys–in the 1930s. Another book described a study that found that 25% of Mattel toys had dangerously high levels of lead–in 1957.

Have we learned nothing? I thought bitterly.

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Beacon Link Roundup: Graphic Novel in Need of Artist, Student Loans,

February 27, 2009

As mentioned by Alison Bechdel on her Dykes to Watch Out For blog, Beacon Press wants to publish a graphic adaptation of Octavia Butler's Kindred. If you are interested, contact Beacon's editor of its Graphic Books list, Allison Trzop, at atrzop * at * beacon.org.

Kate Clinton equivocally mourns the end of the L-Word.

Stacy Mitchell talked at this year's American Booksellers Association Winter Institute about how shopping local movements save small businesses, and you can watch the video here.

If you liked yesterday's Beacon Broadside post from Steven Apfelbaum, you might be interested to hear that his book made Booklist's Top Ten Books on the Environment for 2009.

Alan Collinge discussed the "Dark Side of Student Loans" with Tom Ashbrook on NPR's OnPoint.

"It's the Wild West out there." Psychiatrists, in the absence of good research on combining drugs, are conducting their own experiments.

Some men experience Couvade while their wives or partners are pregnant, going through their own series of hormonal changes. The always-amusing DadLabs explored the science behind Couvade, calling on Jeremy Adam Smith for some help.

Jay Wexler is relieved that the Supreme Court didn't totally screw up his book.

And just in time for weekend brunch: how to make the perfect pancake.

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