No, this isn’t about the “soft bigotry of low expectations,” I just did that to catch the eye. There is no heat in my office, my hands are cold, and the only way to keep myself typing is to start with something eye-grabbing. This is actually about the state of Maine (with which [...]
Archive for the ‘Family’ Category
Bigotry and Low Expectations
Posted in Culture, Education, Ethics, Family, Law, Lifestyle, Sex on November 6, 2009 | 31 Comments »
Scattered thoughts on the same-sex marriage vote in Maine and the Prop 71 in Washington
Posted in Family, Lynn Gazis-Sax, Politics on November 5, 2009 | 8 Comments »
It’s now two days after voting day, and votes are still being counted for Proposition 71, the Washington state proposition to make domestic partnerships everything short of marriage. The vote still hasn’t been called, but at last report, the proposition’s passing by a narrow but widening margin, with about half the votes still to [...]
Quiverfull carnival
Posted in Family, Gods, Lifestyle, Man, Sigaliris, Woman, tagged die patriarchy die, Christian Right, quiverfull, war on women on November 4, 2009 | 9 Comments »
They’re having a blog carnival over at “No Longer Qivering,” a blog started by one of the women profiled in Kathryn Joyce’s book, “Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement.” “Qivering” is deliberately spelled without a u, because as Vyckie the blogger says, “there is no ‘you’ in Qivering.” The blog holds many great stories by [...]
Trick o’er Treat
Posted in Arts, Family, Humor, Lifestyle, Scott Lahti, tagged Halloween, Everybody Hates Chris, candy, Chris Rock, off-brands, knock-offs, Halloween candy, trick or treat on October 29, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Oh my valve, it’s Alzheimer’s! Or, Sig’s Infernal Tour, Canto I
Posted in Family, Health Care, Self, Sigaliris, tagged all about me, alzheimer's, chest pain, gall bladder on October 28, 2009 | 6 Comments »
When your family is behaving badly, if you clutch your chest and cry “Oh, my heart! You people are killing me!” I imagine it might have a dramatic effect. Unfortunately, clutching your chest and exclaiming “Oh, my gall bladder!” doesn’t have quite the same impact.
Perhaps the best way to explain my absence (again) and what [...]
Links: Moral Murkiness, Destigmatizing Bipolar Disorder, Same-Sex Marriage in Schools, and Black Influence on American Culture
Posted in Community, Culture, Family, Gods, Lynn Gazis-Sax on October 27, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I met Jim Burklo back around the time he had the idea for Urban Ministry of Palo Alto. He was the driving force in organizing the group, pulling together the churches that supplied the board of directors and the volunteers, and for a time was our second Urban Minister. I was on the [...]
halfway through Purgatory
Posted in Arts, Family, Gods, Self, Sigaliris, tagged books, alzheimer's, Dante on October 21, 2009 | 3 Comments »
I’m trying to catch up, here, as you all continue to post your energetic and engaging thoughts about the course of the world. My father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and all hell has broken loose in my family of origin. That is, the flames that are always just below the surface, though sometimes banked [...]
But Think of the Children…
Posted in Culture, Ethics, Family on October 16, 2009 | 3 Comments »
“By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer Mary Foster, Associated Press Writer – 6 mins ago
“NEW ORLEANS – At least two civil and constitutional rights groups in Louisiana are calling for a justice of the peace to resign after he refused to issue a marriage license for an interracial couple.
“The head of the American Civil Liberties [...]
Golds and Purples
Posted in Community, Family, Nature, Self, Steve S. on October 11, 2009 | 2 Comments »
We spent the weekend visiting with old friends. The visit took place at an old farm in Maryland right on the water. No internet, no work, no phone calls. Good food, good wine and old stories. It was cool, crisp and clear. Perfect autumn weather. Then the sunset. Golds, reds, [...]
Quaker Mate Swapping
Posted in Family, Gods, Humor, Lynn Gazis-Sax, Self, Sex on October 11, 2009 | 5 Comments »
This title is for my old grade school friend Sue, not because she’s either Quaker or inclined to engage in mate swapping, but just for the amusement value of having her see the words in the same sentence. And it also does connect with the post eventually. But I’ll start it out simply [...]
Quote of the Month
Posted in Culture, Family, Gods, Patrick, Politics, Woman, tagged Politics on October 11, 2009 | 1 Comment »
As a liberal trying to find her way, I often felt like I was trying on religions again. I didn’t fit in, asked lots of questions and was uneasy about my path. Being lost will do that, only I did not know I was on the wrong path. I channeled that anger at the “system” [...]
Revisiting my old Christians and Divorce Series
Posted in Family, Gods, Law, Lynn Gazis-Sax on October 10, 2009 | 5 Comments »
Of all the restrictions laid on sexuality by the stricter Christian denominations, condemnation of divorce is perhaps the one with the strongest Biblical justification: at several points in the New Testament, this prohibition (either with or without a narrow exception) is attributed to Jesus himself. At the same time, there are times when staying [...]
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a Jew?
Posted in Culture, Family, Gods, Humor, Patrick, Politics, World, tagged Foreign policy, Israel, Muslim, News, Opinion, Politics, religion, World News, World Politics on October 3, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Oh, now this is just rich….
A photograph of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during elections in March 2008 clearly shows his family has Jewish roots.
A close-up of the document reveals he was previously known as Sabourjian – a Jewish name meaning cloth weaver.
The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family [...]
The latest trip to the ER, and dog vocabulary
Posted in Family, Health Care, Lynn Gazis-Sax, Self on October 3, 2009 | 8 Comments »
I meant to have a light-hearted Friday dog blogging post up this morning, related to the news, a couple of months ago, that dogs are about as smart as toddlers. But life got in the way. I’ll get to dogs in a minute. First, an account of the emergency room visit.
Joel has [...]
Be True To Your School’s Detonation
Posted in Education, Family, Scott Lahti, tagged anarchism, death camps, decentralism, do-it-yourself, explosives, Freedom, homeschooling, honesty, horse and buggery, separatism, slavery, traditionalism, truth on September 30, 2009 | 6 Comments »
To see Paul Simon and raise him nine years, when I think back on all the horseshit I learned in Government K-12 Death Camps and Rape-Rooms of the Soul,*
*Ur-shit #1, to which all flies succeeding swarm: Obedience.
it’s a wonder my daily fantasies of setting all of them, from Ketchikan to Keokuk to Key West, to [...]
mourning is the new black, goes with everything
Posted in Family, Self, Sigaliris, tagged all about me, alzheimer's on September 26, 2009 | 8 Comments »
My recent absence, if anyone noticed, now yields you, with some sighs, our explanation. (The reference being to “To R.B.”, by Gerard Manley Hopkins.) I drove to Michigan on Monday and returned yesterday. There has been much consternation of late among my three siblings and me because of my parents’ health problems. My brother, Mr. [...]
Life With Father Is Tweet
Posted in Family, Humor, Language, Lifestyle, Man, Scott Lahti, tagged Justin, shitmydadsays on September 22, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Justin’s priceless 73-year-old dad [rough language] is on his usual ab-shaking roll, in case you haven’t lately treated yourself. If, when you click, the Hall and Oates quip from September 1 has dropped off the bottom, click “More”, as newbies should, already, anyway. Guy’s got over 370,000 followers, all earned. I’d have liked to [...]
The Case for Killing Granny, and, Naked Came the Stranger While You (and He) Were Sleeping, or, She Was Asking for It, Your Honor: In My Dreams!
Posted in Family, Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Law, Science, Scott Lahti, Sex, tagged end of life care, sexsomnia on September 19, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Die, Mother’s mother!
The Case for Killing Granny
Rethinking end-of-life care.
By Evan Thomas | NEWSWEEK
And stop dragging your (failing) heart around, lest you become a drag in ways more than one yourself. Not to worry: like everything else that makes this country great, from corn chips to cornhole, Throwing Gramma from the Grav(it)y Train is blessedly bi-partisan, [...]
A Pound of Collateral Damage
Posted in Community, Culture, Family, Nation, Steve S., War, World, tagged Afghanistan, burials, collateral damage, Family on September 14, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Londonstani at Abu Muqawama has a wonderful post up on what the war in Afghanistan can look like for Afghans. Key quotes……..
“He dropped his head on his palm that was resting on the table, and started banging his head against his white mottled hand. When he raised his head his eyes [...]
Obama’s Prepared Remarks to America’s Students
Posted in Education, Family, Franklin Evans, Nation, Politics on September 7, 2009 | 9 Comments »
White House Media Resources website with the full text of Obama’s intended remarks to America’s students.
For the purposes of this thread, I request that criticisms of the remarks include direct quotes from the officially posted text. Copy and paste are our friends, just as we require Mr. Tongue and Mr. Lips to form words.
somewhere you feel free
Posted in Family, Health Care, Sigaliris on September 7, 2009 | 5 Comments »
Warning: contains personal stuff, so for those who despise personal blogging, please ignore. I’ve been distracted from my important daily work of discovering someone being wrong on the internet (this is sarcasm, people–in case you’re tone-deaf to my typed nuances) by family problems. “Family problems” should also be read in a sarcastic tone of voice, [...]
Spoiled Rotten
Posted in Family, Lifestyle on September 7, 2009 | 4 Comments »
For those of you who don’t know, my mother passed away a week ago Friday. While it was not entirely expected, it was, at the last, an end to suffering, and for that we feel most especially comforted in our grief.
It has been, not to put too fine a point on it, the worst summer [...]
Obama Addresses the Nation’s Children: for the lazy
Posted in Education, Ethics, Family, Franklin Evans, Nation, Politics, tagged satire, conspiracy, idiots don't become smart when they have children, never trust a man who speaks for more than 30 seconds, no need for education just fear everything on September 5, 2009 | 13 Comments »
The brief summary of the kerfuffle over Obama speaking to children while they sit in their classrooms, with teachers prepped with an outline of how to use it as a learning moment:
Obama: “I will ask children to see school as a positive value.”
Fear mongerer of your choice: “Obama is going to proselytize your children into [...]
♫ Boy, the meds Great-Granny’d toke/Billy’s toothache gets its coke/Land of Freedom’s now a joke/Those.Were.The.Drugs!…♫
Posted in Arts, Commerce, Ethics, Family, Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Law, Lifestyle, Mind, Science, Scott Lahti, tagged Americana, cultural history, Drugs on September 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Addiction Research Unit, University of Buffalo
(www.wings.buffalo.edu/aru/preprohibition.htm)
Most people don’t realize that, prior to the War on Drugs, anyone could buy mind-altering drugs in drug stores without a prescription — and yet there were not nearly the drug problems we have today. This very interesting site contains numerous photographs of labels from products containing heroin, cocaine, and [...]
