TGIF Follies

Recently I cross-posted a few blog entries to Daily Kos, where they are read by many more people than when they first appear at Paul’s Thing.  Lately, though, things have been hopping here, as more people find their way to this little blog. For example: a long email from an aviation enthusiast who follows my […]

You Can’t Read That!

You Can’t Read That! is a periodic roundup of news about banned and challenged books. I thought this article about the still-widespread opposition to ebooks was interesting, particularly this paragraph: Add to that the e-book’s ease of transport, its international vocation (could the Iron Curtain have kept out e-books?), its indestructibility (you can’t burn e-books), […]

Tribalism Run Amok

GOP Debate Audience Boos Contraception.  Oh give me a break!  Nearly everyone in that audience uses contraception or has a spouse who does, and none of them are planning to give it up.  So what are they really booing? They’re booing the other tribe: liberals, Democrats, progressives, those hippies down in Tucson.  A rough translation […]

Monday Ketchup Catchup Blogging

I took a blogging break over the weekend.  A friend came to visit and we put him up on the Murphy bed in the home office, limiting our access to the computers.  Yeah, I could have done something with the iPad, but who has the patience to peck out an entire blog post with one […]

Thursday Tea Bag

No, I haven’t turned into a teabagger.  This is one of my periodic “bag” posts, a collection of links and short observations that by themselves wouldn’t get a post of their own. ——————– As a motorcycle rider, I’ve always thought there’s something wrong with law enforcement and the courts when it comes to cagers who […]

You Can’t Read That!

You Can’t Read That! is a periodic roundup of news about banned and challenged books. Right on the heels of the racially-motivated confiscation and banning of textbooks in Tucson schools (see my previous posts, here and here) comes SB 1467, a bill before the Arizona state legislature that will require teachers to limit their speech […]

Ground Rules

I grew up thinking there were a couple of ground rules to the sport of democracy as it is played in the United States.  One is the separation of church and state, the other is the protection of minority rights. If you’re a typical American, you don’t want your government taken over by a religious […]

Two Kinds of People

A friend posted a nasty little joke photo to Facebook.  No, not the one on the left, which is just one of many anti-Michelle Obama images I found on the net.  His showed Lucy and Ricky facing each other with caption balloons above their heads.  Lucy: “The doctor says I can’t have sex for six […]