The neo-conservative movement has long been fascinated with the concept of controlling people's sex lives, not unlike the religious leaders that have essentially taken the helm of the movement. Whether it's controlling who may or may not be considered married, what a woman may or may not do with her… Read full post »

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

When I would be asked whether I was for or against off-shore drilling, my reply would invariably have something to do with this age-old adage. In the wake of the recent accident and resulting oil spill in the… Read full post »

"So, Doc-tor," I intentionally exaggerated the syllables, letting them float up in the air between us. "What is suicide?"

 He looked at me for a moment, then back at the notebook in his lap. "You know what it is," he said dismissively. "It's what you tried to do when you swallowed… Read full post »

Claiming the earth moved while lying in post-coital bliss is probably considered a bad line in formulaic erotica, but according to an Iranian cleric, it may be the root of real earthquakes. Of course making such a bizarre suggestion caught the attention of an American woman with a scientific mind.… Read full post »

Dear Darling Hubby:

 I know we've only been married for a few months now, but honestly, you have absolutely no excuse for eating the last of the crispy wings from Pizza Hut! While we're "newlyweds", it's not like you don't know what's up in this house - you've been living with… Read full post »

Okay. It's really $57. Regardless, you all can thank my mother for this one, since she's been harping on me about this ever since she heard on the radio that it costs $57 for the government to send an enumerator out to households that don't respond by mail to the census.… Read full post »

I am a white woman. I was raised in a middle-class household in Pennsylvania, in a town where we still have mostly white residents. My father picked this town as our home primarily because of its racial make-up. He and my mother were raised in Pittsburgh, and had both been the… Read full post »

The folks at the Daily Beast posted a list of America's Craziest Cities, and of course I just had to know where Pittsburgh fell on that list. It was a bit disconcerting to see that the 'burgh came in 18th place - one consolation was that it came ahead of Seattle,… Read full post »

Health Care Reform is grabbing the attention from all quarters, with scare tactics coming from the right, and what can only be called desperation coming from the left. The irony is that no one really knows what will be passed, if the votes can be found. Between deals for votes, and… Read full post »

Teachers at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island have all been fired. The national coverage of this event is a perfect example of stories getting at least a little muddied on the way to the big press outlets. I ended up hearing about it on MSNBC, that lead me to… Read full post »

It was 1989, not 1969, in spite of the wire rimmed glasses and pony tail that the professor wore with pride. I had no business being in that classroom - any classroom - not because I couldn't do the work, but because I was in no state of mind to deal… Read full post »

I just wrote on the increase in overt signs of extremism being a symptom of a shift in right-wing ideology - specifically toward a Christian theocracy, heavily armed and prepared to face the enemy. I also ended up being called on for making sweeping generalizations on that issue. After revisiting the… Read full post »

Whether it's Joe Stack and his online suicide note, or John Bedell and his suicidal attack on the Pentagon, the situation in America is obviously getting out of control. Before anyone starts crying that I'm being an alarmist, I'm pointing out these men merely as outward symptoms of the true disease… Read full post »

Today Obama decided it would be a good idea to make an address about the state of education in the U.S. Yes, I'm starting this as though I were back in high school, writing for the school paper. Yes, the title of this is intentionally similar to a spoof movie. Yes,… Read full post »

There's been at least a little talk about political journalism and its separation from reality recently. There's even been a little analysis of that contention. Both of the pieces I've mentioned admirably dissect a growing problem in American journalism, however they are both largely written with jou… Read full post »

Some people that would do everything in their power to prevent this country from becoming a theocracy visited the White House today. Although the concept of religious organizations involving themselves in government has been an ongoing issue for this country from the very beginning, it became a large… Read full post »