Monthly Archives: April 2014

The God-Given Freedom to Mooch

By Robin Bates | Published: April 21, 2014

Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy resembles the farmer in “Catch-22” who complains about the government except when it pays him not to grow crops.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bureau of Land Management, Catch 22, Cliven Bundy, grazing fees, Joseph Heller | Comments closed

the dance of Jesus music holds the air

By Robin Bates | Published: April 20, 2014

These Lucille Clifton poems usher us from Lent into Easter.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "raising of lazarus", "spring song", Christianity, Easter, Good Friday, Lent, Lucille Clifton, Palm Sunday | Comments closed

Asphalt Court Dreams

By Robin Bates | Published: April 19, 2014

Asphalt court basketball players dream of the spotlight.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "First Love", backyard basketball, Basketball, Carl Lindner, Sports | Comments closed

Here Is No Water but Only Rock

By Robin Bates | Published: April 18, 2014

Dry rocks have functioned as images of spiritual desolation throughout the history of Good Friday poetry.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Altar", Christianity, Christina Rossetti, Easter, George Herbert, Good Friday, Spirituality, T. S. Eliot, Waste Land | Comments closed

The Bard Could Improve Lawyer Behavior

By Robin Bates | Published: April 17, 2014

A judge makes his case about how Shakespeare can improve lawyer professionalism.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged courts of law, Hamlet, Henry VI Part II, judges, King Lear, lawyers, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, Othello, Richard II, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Shakespeare in the Courtroom

By Robin Bates | Published: April 16, 2014

A Georgia judge is guided by Shakespeare and sometimes cites the Bard in his rulings.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged courtroom, judges, Justice, King Lear, lawyers, Merchant of Venice, Richard II, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Lit’s Contribution to the Civil War

By Robin Bates | Published: April 15, 2014

If the Civil War was brought on by a combination of pity and politics, literature helped build the case for pity.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Civil War, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Jacobs, Heritage Foundation, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Jim DeMint, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Uncle Tom's Cabin | Comments closed

The Invasion of the Ants

By Robin Bates | Published: April 14, 2014

Those experiencing ant problems will find fellow sufferers in H. G. Well’s “Empire of the Ants” and Calvino’s “Argentine Ant.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ants insects, Argentine Ant, Empire of the Ants, H. G. Wells, insect invasions, Italo Calvino | Comments closed

The Journeys of the Night Survive

By Robin Bates | Published: April 13, 2014

“Akiba” is a powerful Passover poem by Muriel Rukeyser that links the flight from Egypt to other liberation struggles.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Akiba", "Passover", Judaism, Muriel Rukeyser, Spirituality | Comments closed