Author Archives: Michael-Patrick Harrington

Pi Day

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Happy Pi Day!
 
Pi Day celebrates the mathematical constant pi. (The date was chosen because the first three digits of pi are 3.14.)
 
It is also Albert Einstein’s birthday, and Stephen Hawking died on Pi Day in 2018.
 
Pi Day through time: From Linux to Einstein to Steph Curry
March 14 isn’t just Pi Day. It also has a surprising history of famous births, the death of physicist Stephen Hawking and a milestone for a daring dirigible.


William Hurt

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RIP William Hurt…I first discovered him in the films Altered States, Body Heat, and The Big Chill, and he rarely disappointed. Whether he was playing an exaggerated Philadelphia mob boss in A History of Violence or a pedophile in Kiss of the Spider Woman, his acting was so natural, it appeared effortless. He will be sorely missed.

William Hurt, Star of ‘Body Heat’ and ‘Broadcast News,’ Dead at 71
Oscar-winning Kiss of the Spider Woman actor died of natural causes, his family announced Sunday

Help save Brittney Griner

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Help WBNA Brittney Griner get released from a Russian prison. Her crimes? She had cannabis oil in her luggage and, oh, she’s gay. Russia (like 1/2 of the US) are very anti-LGBTQ.

Sign the Petition
Secure Brittney Griner’s Swift and Safe Return to the U​.​S.

 

Anxiety and uncertainty grow after basketball star Brittney Griner’s arrest in Russia
The arrest of two-time US Olympic basketball gold medalist Brittney Griner has left supporters anxious about her well-being and fearful that she might become a political pawn.

A Weak Man

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Dear Leader called Putin a genius, as Russia attacks a democratic country. Weak men love what they believe to be strong men, and Putin is an autocrat. Of course Dear Leader, who desperately tried to cling to power and who set in motion an insurrection to help him subvert the will of the people, is a weak man who wants nothing less than to be an autocrat himself. It only makes sense that he’s stroking Putin’s ego. If Dear Leader were president, he’d already have loaned out the Army Rangers, the Navy Seals, and the Marine Corps to Russia. God’s Chosen One.
These Are the American Right-Wingers Covering for Putin as Russia Invades Ukraine
From Tucker Carlson to Tulsi Gabbard, these prominent Moscow apologists tried to tell you Ukraine’s fate shouldn’t matter to America

Banning books

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Read the list of books that ignorant school boards and parents are trying to remove from reading lists and libraries. In some cases, the Trumpians have won and a particular book has been banned.
Note how they get around the word “banned” by using the word “removed” instead – all to “protect” their innocent, straight, white, Christian children from learning about something else other than their own “culture.” Oh, and sex is still bad. Absurd.
As a writer, I find that any attempt to ban or remove books because of their content or because you need to protect high school kids from reading To Kill a Mockingbird is quite simply censorship by another name.
Read the Books That Schools Want to Ban
These 14 titles have been under attack for doing exactly what literature is supposed to do.