With increasing numbers of Open Salon subscribers, more posts, comments, and ratings, all passing through a cover page that doesn't get any bigger, I've started seeing more discussion of why posts are or are not noticed, and how members can build a readership.

As a way of approaching that question, I… Read full post »

I just read Liz Emrich's post People of Faith, in which she wrote "... people of faith still have a need to feel that what they believe is, at bottom, respected." I'd like to examine more closely reasons why we might or might not respect religious faith.

… Read full post »

I took these today at lunch with my trusty cell phone.

By the way, if you guys ever get tired of looking at this stuff, just let me know. I won't be offended. I like photography, and ever since they started putting cameras in cell phones, I can't help… Read full post »

Hi, this is Mishima666. You no doubt have seen me on TV, in my wildly successful infomercial "Pray Your Way To Fame And Fortune."

The new "tip" system has taken Open Salon by storm, and… Read full post »

I've worked in offices for 25 years now. Increasing with age, the emotion most evoked in me by office work is sadness. I don't know why. It's clean, dry and warm. I've dug ditches and gutted fish, and office work is better. Nonetheless, I often experience an emotion that I previously… Read full post »

Note: This was originally posted as a comment on mad_typist's "Acai #1 Superfood! - A Rocky tale." A regular contributor to OS suggested that I submit it as a separate post, so here it is. mad_typist's post dealt with a writing contest in which contributors write a story… Read full post »

Many of us have been around here for at least a couple of months. We've all read the Editor's Picks, the highest rated, the most read, as well as many other wonderful posts.

But out of all of those, what are the posts that are your Must Reads? -- the posts… Read full post »

Rather than making an extraordinarily long comment on Real Live Preacher's Communion Taste Test I thought a separate post would be more appropriate.

When I saw the video my first reaction was that it is a very "protestant" video. It's certainly not a video that a Catholic… Read full post »

As Liz Emrich notes in her post "The Assumptions We Make," Republicans try to portray Democrats such as Barack Obama as part of an educated elite that neither cares for the "common person" nor shares his or her values. Liz calls this a "marketing ploy" that is designed to appeal to… Read full post »

For what it's worth:

Every executive in the galaxy wants to be known as someone who has a "quality" operation. To that end a legion of consultants, programs, and acronyms are available to the executive: TQM (Total Quality Management), QC (Quality Control), QI (Quality Improvement), Quality Circles, and so on. For the m… Read full post »

I like all kinds of music. I grew up with classical piano lessons, and currently play flamenco guitar. But a strange thing happened to me on my way to the grave. Last year I discovered Progressive Metal music in my old age.

As far as "classic rock" songs --… Read full post »

"As they stand up, we'll stand down." -- President Bush, 2006

Unfortunately, as the Iraqis try to stand up, they sometimes get blown up. Another bloody day in Iraq:

BAGHDAD - Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a crowd of army recruits Tuesday in a former al-Qaida… Read full post »

The problem with the New Yorker cover is that it's not readily apparent what the point of it is. It looks exactly like something that might appear on the cover of a right-wing rag. So you have to reason through a little bit and conclude that the… Read full post »

Taken at lunch yesterday:

Taken on the way home:

This one a few days ago:

  Read full post »

Under the current administration we have seen changes in the country that would have been unthinkable ten years ago.

We invade a country based on false information, engage in a disastrous occupation, and then -- based on a wisp of hope called the "surge" -- continue to… Read full post »

In the last two decades there has been a fundamental shift in how conservative Christians perceive themselves and who they define as their enemies.

For centuries fundamentalist, evangelical, Catholic, and Orthodox Christians were at each other's throats. The main issues were why the Catholics are… Read full post »

I was always surprised by the great enthusiasm that many American Christians had for the war in Iraq, to the extent that some even perceived it as a "spiritual war" led by a Christian president. This is in spite of the purported devotion of Christians to "the God… Read full post »

In the run-up to the Iraq war I was always baffled by all the talk about "weapons of mass destruction." I was baffled not because there isn't a real external threat, but because everything a terrorist needs to make an explosive, chemical, biological, or small-scale nuclear attack can be… Read full post »

When I was 40 years old I saw the Carlos Saura flamenco ballet movie El Amor Brujo for the first time. I was stunned. I had never seen or heard anything like it. The movie features the magnificent Cristina Hoyos and Antonio Gades, who/… Read full post »

As systems analysts in the Logistics department of a large teaching hospital, a co-worker and I came up with an idea that we calculated would bring in around an additional million dollars per year in additional patient supply net revenue - cash, in other words. Every year hospitals… Read full post »

I work at the national headquarters of a chain of pet clinics. Every year there is a contest for the organization's "mascot."

One of my coworkers had adopted a rescue terrier that she named "Blessing." Blessing had been abandoned, and was found wandering around… Read full post »

Back in the "olden days" I tried my hand at black and white art photography. I had a lot of fun and actually produced a few photos that weren't too bad. The problem was that it was such a hassle trying to make photos without a darkroom.… Read full post »

(This is my first "Salon Open" post, and I'm trying to figure out what this is all about. So I'm venturing a "blog post," without any idea of where this will appear or how anyone will read it. So thanks for reading -- if anyone is reading.)… Read full post »