I am overjoyed to find that the investigative journalist Tasneem Khalil, an excellent writer and a very brave person who also honors this blog with his friendship, has resurfaced alive and well. He was arrested May 11 and we had heard little since. I thought he was in jail or dead. But he was in … More Tasneem Khalil
I have found my digital camera. I had buried it in a box in my house. I had purposely forgotten which one, because it had arrived to me as a present from a former friend and had had the effect of tying me to him. The camera was to remain buried until that magic wore … More Magical Charm
My Frisian friend has spent most of his adult life in Japan. He speaks near-native English, of course, like many Frisians. Like most of the world, he follows events in the United States. He has not spent much time here, however, and he does not understand everything that happens. Sometimes he asks me questions. Now … More America, the Oddity
The Republicans believe in abstinence, but they are not abstaining – from sex or from profit. Michael Reynolds elaborates: Over the past six years George W. Bush’s faith-based Administration and a conservative Republican Congress transformed the small-time abstinence-only business into a billion-dollar industry. These dangerously ineffective sexual health enterprises flourish not because they spread “family … More Abstinence Gluttons
I This was my post from a year ago today, when it was “just-spring;” now it is my anniversary. It is an anniversary of liberation, reconciliation, understanding, and of return. Return of the one I had become, and will be again. In late July of last year I left a very problematic relationship and I … More Anniversary
Opposition to the war in Iraq is now illegal, and my assets, such as they are, can be seized. If they are, the lawsuit I will file and the fight which will ensue will be quite interesting. These executive orders smack of dictatorship and I wonder, can Presidents now sign executive orders in violation of … More Executive Order
Life is so fresh and bright, so present and immediate, when one stands on one’s own authority and lays one’s artificial burdens down. It is easy, like a summer brook. Soon I will again be as I had become before I entered Reeducation. I will be free and innocent like the flowers. This blog is … More Mantra
I have just discovered that I do not have enough clothes. This is based on a list intended to guide people in cutting back, but it indicates I should go shopping. I didn’t know. The basic wardrobe for a woman should contain all of the following: • Two One heavy white t-shirts/knit tops, a short-sleeve … More How They Live
I have three students who have been caught with nickel bags and are now court ordered to attend Twelve Step meetings. Two have been adversely affected by it and are now failing my class. I am angry about this for their sakes and for my own reasons. I was assigned to attend Al-Anon when, at … More Nickel Bag
There is a lively secession movement in Vermont, and one I do not like in northern California and southern Oregon. People in New Orleans are flying pirate flags from their houses in reference to Federal neglect, and Jack Moss has an amusing argument for secession. A friend used to say that South Louisiana should secede … More On Secession
coldhearted scientist وداد 