K.P.Kollenborn

Boxing Day Traditional English holiday extends Christmas giving by David Johnson Despite its name, Boxing Day, which is celebrated on December 26 in Great Britain, has nothing to do with pugilistic competition. Nor is it a day for people to return unwanted Christmas presents. While the exact origins of the holiday are obscure, it is likely that Boxing Day began in  England  during the  Middle Ages . Some historians say the holiday developed because servants were required to work on  Christmas Day , but took the following day off. As servants prepared to leave to visit their families, their employers would present them with gift boxes. Church Alms Boxes Another theory is that the boxes placed in churches where parishioners deposited coins for the poor were opened and the contents distributed on December 26, which is also the Feast of  St. Stephen . As time went by, Boxing Day gift giving expanded to include those who had rendered a service during the previous year.

Normally any congressperson can call for a vote on any bill at any time. But just before the shutdown happened, the GOP quietly passed a measure that said only House Majority Leader Eric Cantor can call for the shutdown to end (unless he gives a designee permission).  Not even the most senior GOP congressperson, Speaker of the House John Boehner, is allowed to do it, without permission from his own guy. Here's the thing. Democrats are not always right. Neither are Republicans. The political system is messed up from top to bottom. But this is just crazy.  The guy in charge of the GOP can't end the shutdown. Late on the night of Sept. 30, with the federal government just hours away from shutting down, House Republicans quietly made a small change to the House rules that blocked a potential avenue for ending the shutdown. It went largely unnoticed at the time. But with the shutdown more than a week old and House Democrats searching for  any legislative wiggle room  to

Published by Crosscut By  Gordon K. Hirabayashi with James A. Hirabayashi and Lane Ryo Hirabayashi Editor's Note:  Gordon K. Hirabayashi was a student at University of Washington when the U.S. ordered the removal of Japanese-Americans in the Pacific Northwest. Hirabayashi refused curfew orders, prompting a legal battle. He lost. It wasn't until the 1980s that Hirabayshi's convictions were overturned, putting him firmly in the right on his initial refusal. After his death in 2012, Hirabayashi’s brother, James Hirabayashi and nephew, Lane Hirabyashi, compiled his diaries and correspondence which follow his experiences as a student through time served in jail for defying U.S. orders. The book gives insight into Hayabayashi's motivations and faith during his time in jail. “A Principled Stand: The Story of Hirabayashi v. United States"  chronicling the life Gordon K. Hirabayashi was released by the University of Washington Press this month.  Below is an excerp

John Steinbeck wrote as part of his Noble Peace Prize speech in 1962: “The writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit—for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally flags of hope and of emulation. I hold that a writer who does not believe in the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor any membership in literature.”  And within the same context, he also wrote, “I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.”  How can one not be in awe of his perception?  As a writer, even in fiction, Steinbeck broke boundaries of how to reconcile what is humane.  He mixed literary prose and realism with such grit and fortitude that I’m charmed by his depressing and enri