"When I do not want to say things in real life I often say them here." — Mimi Smartypants
Some of my friends are successful businessmen. They are, as a matter of course, conservative and Republican. Socially, at least, I tend toward conservatism myself, and I respect anyone who works hard and succeeds. Though I may disagree with my friends, I listen to what they have to say. They’re smart people, but too often, […]
In a post about Arizona’s new immigration law the other day, I naïvely posted this: I estimate that the Border Patrol catches around a hundred illegal border-crossers a day in Arizona alone. Anywhere you go in southern Arizona, you see Border Patrol checkpoints and the big white ex-Greyhound buses they use to haul the day’s […]
Today on Facebook I posted a link to this photo and accompanying story about a racist NASCAR fan, generating this heated comment from a friend, an understandably beleaguered non-racist NASCAR supporter: Probably the most misinformed bit of drivel written about NASCAR to date. Funny how the “journalist” leaps to unsubstantiated conclusions but would scream bloody […]
I’ve blown hot and cold on the populist gripe against red light cameras, that they’re only about enhancing municipal revenue. When Tucson set up red light cameras last year, the city probably enjoyed a significant revenue spike. But people learn fast, and now almost no one runs red lights . . . so there goes […]
Here’s another roundup of banned book news: First, some small victories: Washington state library board stands up to censors Wisconsin mother who challenged school library books overruled by board of education Graphic novel Bone survives school library challenge Still, there are miles to go before we sleep: Mom checks out teen books, keeps them to […]
“Integrity is a bugger, it really is. Lying can get you into difficulties, but to really wind up in the crappers try telling nothing but the truth.” – David Mitchell, Ghostwritten The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins The familiar arguments against the familiar arguments for god, well arranged and cogently stated. If you’re a member […]
“You can’t handle the truth.” — Jack Nicholson (as Col. Nathan R. Jessep) in A Few Good Men (1992). El Norte (1983) Hey, I tried, but this film is so sociopolitically earnest I instinctively turned against it. It begins graphically enough, with Mayan peasants being brutally suppressed by Guatemalan landowners and their military lackeys, but […]
My father died of liver cancer three years ago this month. May 31st, actually. It’s the kind of anniversary one remembers quietly, and I wouldn’t mention it here except that Lois, my stepmother, called this morning with news of Dad’s remaining siblings. Uncle Lindley, one of Dad’s older brothers, has lung cancer. Uncle Fay, the […]