Responding to Friendly Criticism

I’m getting some hits over two previous posts (Gabrielle Giffords and Political Violence).  As is often the case, the criticisms were emailed directly to me rather than left here as blog comments.  Which ordinarily would mean you wouldn’t get to see them.  It seems a bit like censorship to me, getting reasoned criticism from friends, […]

Political Violence

Two things.  One, this post is going to go all over the map because I’m still in shock, angry and incoherent.  Two, what I have to say is mostly personal, not meant to be a recap of news you’ve already heard elsewhere. We all know what happened in Tucson this Saturday was political.  Politicians and […]

Trolling the Waters

Politically I’m a leftist through and through, so I’m always surprised when my inner conservative rears its pointy head. I’m reading a blog entry by Phoenix Woman about right-wingers refusing to call domestic terrorism by its name, nodding along, completely in agreement, when I come upon this sentence: Republican Senator Scott Brown — who was […]

Fox News: It’s Time to Vote with Our Feet

Keith Olbermann calls for a boycott of Fox News.  Boycott how?  Here’s how: when you find yourself in a bar or restaurant with the TV set to Fox News, find an owner or manager and tell him you’ll take your business elsewhere if he doesn’t change the channel, and calmly explain why.  Keith then lists […]

The Anthrax Assassin

We are meant to think, apparently, that Bruce Ivins, the civilian US Army scientist who committed suicide after becoming the FBI’s main suspect in the 2001 anthrax killings, was guilty.  He was an insider, he had access to anthrax, he was brilliant but troubled, he had a long history of making homicidal threats, he exhibited […]

Blogging Dearth Rears Its Tortured Head

Blogging’s been sporadic.  Well, no, there’s plenty of blogging (passive voice, get thee behind me) . . . I’ve been blogging sporadically. I went on a 20-mile bike ride this morning with Darrell, Linda, and Lane, who are Trail Trash buddies.  Donna, Mary Anne, and Kris got roped into manning a welcome booth at our destination, […]

Arabs on a Plane

Wow, the left side of the blogosphere is up in arms over this story, about the woman who demanded to be let off a departing flight after becoming frightened by Arab passengers she thought were acting suspiciously.  Witness this blog entry, titled “racist hysteric apologizes for targeting DOD-approved swarthy people,” and particularly the reader comments below […]

Hotter Saturday Blogging

My God, we started our Saturday morning bike ride at 6:30 and were toast by 8:00, with a few miles still to go.  But we gutted it out to the end, then sat outdoors . . . albeit under patio umbrellas . . . at our local coffee shop.  My one concession to the heat was drinking […]