Yesterday was a sort-of victory for LGBT youth: the Boy Scouts of America lifted the ban on LGBT scouts, after gathering over a million signatures to allow homosexual scouts to join. From the Huffington Post: The Boy Scouts of America have reportedly voted 61-38 to allow gay Scouts. According to multiple media sources, the scouting […]
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I hate handguns, but I have still considered owning one
I’d never own a handgun to protect myself from the government. Protesting myself my armed fellow Americans who are terrified of the government, on the other hand….
Redneck jokes are racist
I am not one of those people that believes in reverse discrimination, and that old white males are struggling for equality in a pitiless world run by women and people of color. (Affirmative action is a bad idea, but a necessary one to counteract a worse one, segregation and institutionalized povertization of the black underclass.) So […]
ArtSunday: You can take the boy out of the working class, but can you take the working class out of the boy?
As I’ve noted before, I grew up working class in the South. My neighborhood, my school, my family and friends, it all oscillated between “redneck” and “white trash,” and yes, there’s a difference. I wrote not long ago about the challenges facing those of us trying to climb the socio-economic ladder when nothing in our upbringing […]
Maira Kalman’s The Principles of Uncertainty: an appreciation of New York and New Yorkishness by a New Yorker
Maira Kalman’s collage/slam book/illustrated diary The Principles of Uncertainty probably deserves better than it’s going to get here. This latest completed read from my 2013 reading list has put-up job written (and drawn) all over it. While this book has charm, it also has smarm in abundance. Only a New Yorker with “the right connections” – in publishing, in society, in […]
Quick! OMG! Hurry! Tomorrow’s the second Sunday of May!
To better prepare readers of The Atlantic for appropriate ways to observe Mother’s Day, Nicole Russell, in an article captioned “[t]he second Sunday of May is a source of frustration and disappointment for men and women alike,” shares a little history and some pointers. Yet, somehow, she managed to contribute to the disappointment by including this […]
Goddamned wasteful gummit spending: Who’s the highest (over)paid “public servant” in your state? (WTF?)
A Special Guest Commentary From Randy Wayne Boudreau, Grand Dragon of the Alabama Tea Party All right thinking citizen patriots hate gummit. Wasteful bureaucrats living off hard workers like you and me. Might as well be welfare queens. And now, thanks to the good folks at Deadspin – private, non-union workers, I should note – […]
WordsDay: Articles of faith…
I returned to the history genre for the next book in the 2013 reading list – or so I thought. The Road to Salem is a “constructed” memoir – historian and archivist Adelaide Fries (a descendant of the original Moravian settlers she writes about) tells, though the use of the autobiography of Anna Catharina Antes- Kalberlahn/Reuter/Heinzmann/Ernst (yep, she was […]
Amanda, Gina, and Michelle survived, but not all women in Cleveland are that lucky
Today Cleveland celebrates the return of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight. We feel a collective sense of gratitude and amazement at their survival and reappearance. I listened to versions of their story covered locally, nationally, and internationally and that feeling seems nearly universal. But they were gone for a decade. Gina disappeared when […]
Showdown looming between the NRA and 3-D printed guns
There’s about to be a really interesting showdown: the NRA versus 3-D printed guns. The NRA had its national convention during the first weekend in May in Houston. NRA Vice-President Wayne LaPierre proclaimed, “We will never back away from our resolve to defend our rights and the rights of all law-abiding American gun owners.” Well, […]
George Lakoff gives conservatives way too much credit
Personal responsibility does not a moral system make. We’re all indebted to the influential linguist George Lakoff for applying his work to politics in recent years. Among his invaluable contributions has been his perspective on framing. For example: It’s a general principle: Unless you frame yourself, others will frame you — the media, your enemies, […]
Tim Brando is an embarrassment to old white males everywhere
Tim Brando, the sportscaster, tweeted this yesterday. Tim Brando ✔@TimBrando @CallMeG_Unit Simple Being a a Christian White male over 50 that’s raised a family means nothing in today’s culture. The sad truth. Period. He got the most flak for arguing that Collins isn’t a hero. Obviously, he feels disrespected and undervalued. But why? Tim graduated with […]
Does Tim Tebow get a free pass because he’s a moron?
In the space of 24 hours, we’ve now heard three sports reporters finally come out and call Tebow stupid. There was the article yesterday that said that he was so dyslexic and ADD he couldn’t keep the letter-number sequence straight between leaving the huddle and reaching the line. Now dyslexia is one of those words […]
What would you ban?
I’m gonna go a little bit out on a limb and ask about taboos with a little compare and contrast. And no, even though I start this out with an example about gun control, the point isn’t about that. It’s about taboo and how that might apply to other rights, their expression, and the rationale […]
Boston Marathon bombing: tragedy, bigotry and hope
First and foremost, my thoughts are with Boston today. I hope your friends and family were as lucky as mine were to avoid any harm, and my prayers are with those who were not as lucky. Watching the news was horrific for anyone who turned on a television or browsed the Internet yesterday. But apart […]
S&R Honors
Click here to learn more about past honorees...- “Where Girls Grow Strong” – and Boy Scouts follow
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Frank Dilatush: If I accept your premise that the majority of poor…
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elfkat: Reblogged this on Adventures and Musings of a Hedg…
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Bret Higgins: You know me, mate, I checked out every link!…
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Samuel Smith: I hear you. I'm reminded of the WC Fields edict: I…
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