3 Ring Binder

While walking, laughing, crying, dancing, and marching in the cemetery this morning, I had an epiphany. I need a selfie drone to follow me and record my attitudinal changes while walking in the cemetery. It occurred to me as I switched from a audible laugh thinking about a book club conversation I had recently with friends (which oddly, had nothing to do with the book) to a teary-eyed suppressed sob as I passed by the taken-too-soon "Always Daddy" headstone.  I breathed deeply and leveled out into a stroll under the towering pines, hopped back onto the cemetery proper, and marched up the hill like a soldier. I was alone. I wasn't wearing headphones. I enjoyed my own thoughts, And am my own best counsel. But I felt a little crazy. It was then I decided: I'm going to blog again.  Now, I know you're all saying, " Lynne! That's fabulous! We've missed you so !!!" Or maybe not, but frankly, I don't give a damn, my dear.  I blog f...

Why Cultural Appropriation is Wrong I might further dissect and integrate this bit of writing later, but I needed quickly to say that the author makes fantastic leaps between individuals celebrating interesting aspects of different cultures (through casual appropriation) and perpetuating oppression. There is a deep, dark flaw in thinking that not only allows, but further advances these leaps in an attempt to shame individuals who have the audacity to embrace looks, behaviors, habits, or practices that a person has chosen for himself regardless of where he first encountered them. Why Cultural Appropriation is Right My take.

They say to each of us, black and white alike, that we must substitute courage for caution.   They say to us that we must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers. Their death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the realization of the American dream. ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., September 18, 1963.     Eulogy for the Young Victims of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing I am impressed with the clarity of Dr. King’s words, sad that our President had to evoke them this week, and ultimately confused as to why we refuse to recognize their application to the innocent victims of 9/11, Ft. Hood 2009, or the Boston Marathon 2013. 

This recent exchange between a Harvard Business School professor and a bartender/owner of a Chinese Restaurant cracks me up in one regard: this guy is the reason that "douchebaggery" is now a popular word. Ben Edelman v. Chinese Mom and Pop However, and more importantly, this exchange touches upon two important principles that seem lost in the preposterousness of the exchange: When a bad law exist, there will always be bad actors to exercise its power. The lineage/size/age of your business should never be used as an excuse to mistreat your customer. The Backlash The Apology Having written plenty of complaint letters, I sympathize with the lawyer in getting something other than what he thought he paid for. Unfortunately, Mr. Edelman pilloried himself by approaching the matter of a $4 overcharge -- for that's exactly what happened -- as a serious violation of his rights.  Unfortunately for him, he knew not only of the Consumer Protection Act, but also that he...

Well-heeled mobs demanding government-forced curtailment of cheap, efficient energy to feed their collective fantasies of "clean" energy have a twisted morality. Read Alex's book, The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels .  

I really like rereading some of my old blog posts. The best part of writing in a personal blog rather than single-issue or advocacy/activism blog is that I've written most of the posts as I speak. I'm rereading my own voice here. It's really, really fun for me to revisit fun me. I like her. In fact, if I weren't already her, I'd want to be her best friend. We share so much.

This . The contradictions jump out of this piece all on their own, but in case you've used your self-preservation-allotment of outrage on something more important today--like the effetely-met kidnapping of over 200 young women in a Nigerian school nearly a month ago, or the use of the word "compromise" as it should relate to the Constitution-- I'll just point them out for you.  First, we're told how one weatherman " makes a point of incorporating links between bad weather and climate change into his daily broadcasts. " Then we're told that 8 hand-picked guests were invited to the White House "to spread the word" of the National Climate Assessment.  Crap. But on par with the proselytizing portion of the religion of Climate Change.  The article further explains that local weathermen have been shown to be among the most trusted of media figures.  Okay, now it's getting interesting.  And . . .   Sadly for this a...