What’s Happening

By Sean Illing in Vox

A linguist explains how Trump uses lies to divert attention from the “big truths.”

President Donald Trump has hacked the media.

As Vox’s Ezra Klein argued recently, the press is in a lose-lose situation — and we all know it. Trump thrives on opposition, and often the media plays right into his hands, feverishly chasing every lie and half-truth he utters or tweets.

Youth OUTright engages and supports youth to be confident, resilient and compassionate community members – and so can you, by being a donor! With the support from you, our donors, Youth OUTright WNC was able to engage with 1,107 youth at weekly programs and over 400 unique youth this year. Help us continue to grow our impact, and end the year strong!

Womansong, Asheville’s largest and longest-running women’s community chorus, invites you to our winter concert, “Lead with Love”, this year performing with outstanding local chanteuse, Peggy Ratusz and singer/songwriter, Kathryn O’Shea.

Emily Wilson | ARTS AND CULTURE, FEMINISM

In the conversation with writer and Rutgers professor Brittney Cooper, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis Taylor Jr.talked with her about rage, the hearings to put Brett Kavanuagh, credibly accused of sexual assault by three women, on the Supreme Court, and tennis player Serena Williams’ recent experience with an umpire at the U.S. Open. 

by Larry Allen

An open letter to friends and family who are shocked to discover I’m a liberal… I’ve always been a liberal, but that doesn’t mean what a lot of you apparently think it does. Let’s break it down, shall we? Because quite frankly, I’m getting a little tired of being told what I believe and what I stand for. Spoiler alert: Not every liberal is the same, though the majority of liberals I know think along roughly these same lines:

1. I believe a country should take care of its weakest members. A country cannot call itself civilized when its children, disabled, sick, and elderly are neglected. Period.

Write Here. Write Now.

Through our Literary Calendar, we look forward to coordinating with regional writers and writers’ organizations so that writers in our community know about all of the wonderful events and opportunities available to them.  

Flat Iron Writers Room/Workshops/Retreats/Space Rental/News&Events

Malaprop’s Café has evolved into the meeting place in our town. Our café boasts a literary menu, with treats from local bakeries and organic, fair-trade, shade-grown coffee roasted locally. We offer free wireless service and eight plug-in stations. Our baristas embrace the role of community catalyst. Join us whenever you can!  (Listen to Audiobooks and Support Malaprop’s Bookstore)

Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies is an interdisciplinary program, offering core courses in WGSS as well as related electives from a variety of departments across campus. The program is designed to offer perspectives on the experiences of women, the effects of the construction of gender and of sexuality in our society.

Mother Grove Temple was established in 2008. We have a full schedule of programs including public rituals for the ancient holy days (and Earth Day), religious education for adults and children, Full Moon ceremonies, Sunday morning meditation time, and rites of passage by appointment.

from BBC News

Ethiopian members of parliament have elected Sahle-Work Zewde as the country’s first female president. Ms Sahle-Work is an experienced diplomat who has now become Africa’s only female head of state. Her election to the ceremonial position comes a week after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointed a cabinet with half the posts taken up by women. 

By Robert S. McElvaine in the Washington Post 

Where does sexism come from? Why do evangelicals ignore the president’s serial mistreatment of women? Why does the U.S. Constitution still not guarantee equality for women? Why do women earn less than men? Why didn’t most conservatives care whether the accusations of sexual assault brought against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh were true?

It’s 3:23 in the morning
and I’m awake
because my great great grandchildren
won’t let me sleep
my great great grandchildren
ask me in dreams
what did you do while the planet was plundered?
what did you do when the earth was unraveling?
—Drew Dellinger

By  Lisa Bialac-Jehle

Get credit cards in their own names.
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 gave women that right. The law forced credit card companies to issue cards to women without a husband’s signature.

by Froma Harrop in the News Chamber of California

Americans are hurting as their country descends into dysfunction, polarization and widespread anger. Democrats are feeling an extra dose of despair with the elevation of the intemperate and partisan Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

This third installment of Sarranda’s saga leads her to the poignancy and heartbreak of an unexpected new marriage. In the mountains of Jackson County, NC, Sarranda continues to run her mill, renew and strengthen old and new acquaintances—especially her circle of strong, determined women with whom she continues her legacy of doggedly shepherding them to self-realization —and her discovery of the redemptive, healing power resulting from her one extraordinary and selfless gift of love. 

The paperback is available from Celia for $13.95 including postage at celiahoopermiles@gmail.com or  Sarranda’s Legacy Kindle Edition 

in The Progressive, a voice for Peace, Social Justice and the Common Good

“It would be naive to depend on the Supreme Court to defend the rights of poor people, women, people of color, dissenters of all kinds. Those rights only come alive when citizens organize, protest, demonstrate, strike, boycott, rebel, and violate the law in order to uphold justice.”

By Jessica Glenza in the Guardian

The former United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon has denounced the United States’ healthcare system as politically and morally wrong, and urged American leaders to enact publicly financed healthcare as a “human right”.

Reading, writing, publishing, and selling books are gifts. There are rewards in all the aspects of this craft and trade, and all are necessary for success. Curiously, many of us are pulled into this path and never leave it. I have been honored to have found this path early in my life. My parent’s library replaced my need for toys. I was never bored. Retreating to the cool, quiet room of books was, I realize now, my safe place.

An incubator for creative breakthrough, fundamentally focused on the artists’ book and print arts. Asheville BookWorks, a community resource for print and book arts, hosts the Vandercooked Poetry Nights reading series.

This collection begins with clear-eyed reportage on the heartbreak and devastation in the lives of women, historical and contemporary. The universal implications of their fate serve as “frame” for the rest of the book as the poet, in strikingly spare language, takes impassioned aim at the complexities of love, marriage, and society. “She has chosen to follow her own light and report what her vision discovers…with a dark mordancy that is tonic and enviable.” Fred Chappell “Nancy Dillingham writes…with a beautiful balance of concision and eloquence.” Ron Rash “History, the land, and family beckon with a ‘finely formed hand.’ ” Katherine Soniat     Click here for more information