What Was Your Job Description Again, Senator?

“I am not prepared to have my 29-year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate—not prepared to have that record decided by that jury.”
–Arlen Specter, US Senator from Pennsylvania
“Mr. Specter said he would not be an automatic Democratic vote, though he will be pulled in that direction since he [...]

Darwin, Gradually

Having finally finished the unpleasant book about psychopathic killers, I have gone back to finish editing a series of essays about Charles Darwin. 2009 is the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, so he’s being feted and written about left and right.
This evening Anthropapa came across this bit of artwork, which is very funny and fits [...]

Mixed Bag

Image via Wikipedia

Today’s New York Times Opinion section included the article “Ban the Breast Pump” by Judith Warner in her weekly column “Domestic Disturbances.”
Inflammatory title, no?
Even more inflammatory to me are some of her basic assumptions. Warner begins by describing her feelings, and those of other mothers, that using a breast pump is “miserable,” “a [...]

Things That Make You Go…What?

So I’m reading “The World in 2009” special annual edition published by The Economist. Lots of thought-provoking stuff about what might come in the wake of the various issues and conflicts in the world today.
But the really fun stuff is the ads. Where else could you learn about the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority or the [...]

Who Does She Think She Is?

Heidi over at there is grace recently posted about this wonderful documentary about the struggles women have in modern society in balancing their need for artistic creativity and the demands of motherhood.
I haven’t seen the film yet, but something in the trailer caught my attention: people on the street were asked if they could name [...]

Worthy Role Models?

In elevating to a level of demiworship people with big bucks, we have been destroying the values of our future generation. We need a total rethinking of who the heroes are, who the role models are, who we should be honoring.
–Rabbi Benjamin Blech, professor of philosophy of law at Yeshiva University, on the downfall of [...]

He Must Pay!

Why would an wealthy scholar vandalize valuable books dating from the Renaissance, carefully cutting out maps and illustrations and then simply stashing them in his home, interleaved into his own books? The horrible thing is, this man knew the value of the works he was damaging. And the damage is irreversible. Some of the images [...]

When Good Ideas Go Bad

Have you heard of the PROTECT Act of 2003? This is a complicated piece of legislation that intends to prevent child abuse.
I think we can all get behind that general concept, right?
But . . . there’s a problem, specifically with the sections about child pornography.
In general, the intention was that child pornography, particularly on the [...]

When Crafters Get Riled Up

I get a daily email from Craftzine.com’s blog with all kinds of crafty goodness. Today’s edition contained something of a bombshell:
Earrings made from squirrel feet.
Normally very few people put comments on these posts, but this one has received over 50 comments so far. Some people are mightily offended, some people are so offended that they [...]

Tired of It

An online article in the Christian Science Monitor a few days ago (about someone suing the pharmaceutical company Wyeth for insufficient warning language on a drug label–a musician who lost her arm because of side effects!) contained these two sentences:

Forty-seven states and an array of consumer advocacy, medical, and other groups have filed friend of [...]