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deficit
Letter sent to my congressmen (yes, all men ( Read more... ) -
Christmas shopping
The Cool Tools blog an amazing source of Christmas gift ideas. That for the adults, plus a good non-chain toy store for the kids, and everybody thinks you're a gifting goddess ( Read more... ) -
TSA
How the hell is a rape survivor supposed to face flying now? Promising myself that I would keep control over who does and doesn't touch me sexually was a keystone of my recovery ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
OK, world: it's time to stop making decorative keychains now. No, really. -
Regeneration
The other day I was contemplating all the hand tools I've broken in the last ten years of living in the woods. Three loppers, a claw hammer, two pitchforks, and a weed cutter come to mind; others besides ( Read more... ) -
e-reader
An older-model Sony electronic ink reader (PRS-300) went on sale at woot.com for $110 about a week ago. I couldn't resist. My verdict is
I like itand I think I know why. It's flat. You don't need to hold it open to read it. You hold it very casually with one hand, or even set it on the surface in front of you. Somehow, that makes reading ( Read more... ) -
but neither one will fit on a bumper sticker
People who believe that the authoritative voices on what happened in 1st-century Judea are 21st-century Americans, not 1st-century Jews... would probably take great offense if you told them that you understood their life experiences better than they did ( Read more... ) -
Corporations are people too
The Supreme Court says that, for purposes of First Amendment rights, corporations are people tooSo many questions this raises. Will corporations be able to vote? If you bar a corporate merger, is it denying corporations the right to marry? If one corporation puts another one out of business, is it guilty of murder? How will corporations be ( Read more... ) -
dang-nab foreigners
Contempt for the ideas of foreigners has become a staple of right-wing American politics; in fact, the doctrine seems to go beyond "foreign opinions are irrelevant" and into contrariness for its own sake: "if it's popular in other countries, then I don't like it."
... which makes me wonder, don't you guys have any foreign friends? Come to think ( Read more... ) -
Kumba, 1996-2009
I buried my cat Kumba in the woods behind our house on Sunday. There are lots of cats in and around our house, but she alone has always been My Cat. She died Saturday afternoon of a lung tumor we'd known nothing about; Friday morning she seemed just sick enough to merit scheduling a Saturday checkup.
I am really surprised by how broken up I am ( Read more... )