"When I do not want to say things in real life I often say them here." — Mimi Smartypants
I could say I’m blogging about odds & ends because it’s the lull between festive holiday events, and with parties and football soon to come, no one wants to read about anything serious (not that there aren’t plenty of serious things to write about). But the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, barring surprises, should pretty […]
You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post featuring banned book reviews and news roundups. YCRT! News Banned in Tucson™ author Patricia Williams takes on the rising tide of academic book bannings, firings, and the growing disregard for scholarship in the USA. Speaking of the growing disregard for scholarship, Rush Limbaugh supports replacing the teaching of actual […]
Guess who got a new telephoto lens for Christmas? Any guesses where he went with it? Clearly I have much to learn. Here are a few of the less-embarrassing shots I took at Pima Air & Space Museum the day after Christmas: As always, clickage will take you to the full sized images on Flickr. — […]
Donna dreamed of a Fitbit. Polly pined for a sound bar. I wished for a telephoto lens. We each got what we most wanted … a Christmas miracle! Shame on me for not remembering what we asked Amazon to leave under the Las Vegas Woodfords’ tree, but I expect our son and his family got their hearts’ desires too. We […]
Never mind there should be no debate over torture, any more than there should be a debate over rape or child molestation. There is a debate and it’s heading downhill fast, witness this statement by one of the most powerful men in the land: “I think it is very facile for people to say ‘Oh, torture is terrible,’” […]
I wasn’t thinking about comment spam when I started blogging, but comment spam was thinking about me. After the second time I was up past midnight deleting comment spam, I clamped down by requiring users to register and log in before posting comments. That eliminated comment spam, but it also came close to eliminating real comments, because who wants the hassle […]
I’m not one to quote Bible verses, but Isiah 11:6 came strongly to mind when I glanced over at the couch last night and witnessed this peaceful scene: Another quote came simultaneously to mind, this one by Ronald Reagan: “Trust, but verify.” Clearly, the Christmas Truce has begun.
I’m gonna say these bags of holiday cheer represent Hanukkah, Christmas, Festivus, Kwanzaa, Yule, and Eid al-Adha. Don’t count ’em and try to guess which three religions I really mean … just go with me on this, okay? Like most white middle class Americans, we have Jewish and Christian friends. We know pagans and atheists, gays and straights. Most […]