All entries by this author

The teen suicide epidemic in Bachmann’s District *

Jul 26th, 2011 | Filed by

Why critics blame the congresswoman’s anti-gay allies for contributing to a mental health crisis.… Read the rest



Buddhist monks walk away from sex-abuse cases *

Jul 26th, 2011 | Filed by

Chicago Tribune review of sexual abuse cases involving several Theravada Buddhist temples found minimal accountability and lax oversight of monks.… Read the rest



Judge offers Nelson a new trial *

Jul 26th, 2011 | Filed by

The judge’s unusual decision was announced at a sentencing hearing Tuesday in Cobb County State Court.… Read the rest



No jail time for Raquel Nelson *

Jul 26th, 2011 | Filed by

More than 135,000 people signed an online petition calling for leniency.… Read the rest



Fun with names

Jul 25th, 2011 12:28 pm | By

How to get more traffic on your blog…write about elevator guy. Ha! That’s a good one. That’s a real thigh-slapper.

Steve Caldwell makes a different suggestion.

Apparently, the secret for a successful website (aka “blog”) is misspelling a person’s last name so the misspelled name includes a slang term for female genitalia.

That will get one over 1240 comments …

Quite, with the addendum that as of this moment the count is 1283. What fun all this would have been if Watson had had a couple of confederates, Rachel Unt and Rosalind Ussy. But then again what if the confederates had been named Rachel Igger and Rosalind Pade? Would the count have been higher, or lower, … Read the rest



Let them eat bus transfers

Jul 25th, 2011 11:53 am | By

Punishing people for not having a car. Prosecuting people for not driving. Teaching a lesson to pedestrians and bus-takers.

Nelson, 30 and African-American, was convicted on the charge this week by six jurors who were not her peers: All were middle-class whites, and none had ever taken a bus in metro Atlanta. In other words, none had ever been in Nelson’s shoes:

They had never taken two buses to go grocery shopping at Wal-Mart with three kids in tow. They had never missed a transfer on the way home that caused them to wait a full hour-and-a-half with tired and hungry kids for the next bus. They had never been let off at a bus stop on a five-lane

Read the rest


Prosecuting the victim, absolving the perps *

Jul 25th, 2011 | Filed by

Nelson was convicted by six jurors who were not her peers: all were middle-class whites, and none had ever taken a bus in metro Atlanta.… Read the rest



Vatican is “disappointed” at “excessive reactions” *

Jul 25th, 2011 | Filed by

Recalls nuncio to have a chat about its wounded feelings.… Read the rest



FaceGlat segregates women from men *

Jul 25th, 2011 | Filed by

A new social networking site for ultra-Orthodox Jews takes customary segregation of the sexes online.… Read the rest



Breivik claims to be part of an organisation *

Jul 25th, 2011 | Filed by

He said the attacks were “necessary” in light of the “treason” of the victims in promoting multiculturalism.… Read the rest



Jonathan Danilowitz on Israel’s enemy within *

Jul 24th, 2011 | Filed by

“Today’s Judaism as dictated by rabbis of various religious streams is vicious, divisive, discriminatory, cruel, oppressive, sexist, and anti-democratic.”

 

 … Read the rest



Let’s send all the victims to jail! That’ll teach them

Jul 24th, 2011 2:50 pm | By

Jesus.

On April 10, 2010, Raquel Nelson lost her 4-year-old son. Nelson was crossing a busy Marietta, Georgia, street with her son and his two siblings when they were struck by a hit-and-run driver. Police were able to track down the driver, Jerry Guy, who later admitted he had been drinking and had taken painkillers the night of the accident. He was also mostly blind in one eye.  Guy had already been convicted of two prior hit-and-runs. He pleaded guilty, served six months of his five-year sentence, and was released last October.

…Last week Nelson herself was convicted on three charges related to her son’s death: reckless conduct, improperly crossing a roadway and second-degree homicide by vehicle. Each is a

Read the rest


Do prosecutors hate women? *

Jul 24th, 2011 | Filed by

A Georgia woman whose child darted into the street was convicted of vehicular homicide.… Read the rest



The logistics of Noah’s ark *

Jul 24th, 2011 | Filed by

We need a larf.… Read the rest



Attack aimed at values Norwegians treasure most *

Jul 24th, 2011 | Filed by

Their openness, freedom of expression and feeling of safety have all been shaken to the core. … Read the rest



Breivik says he acted alone *

Jul 24th, 2011 | Filed by

At least 93 people were killed in Friday’s attacks – 96 have been injured and some are still missing.… Read the rest



Nick Cohen on the meanness of British culture *

Jul 24th, 2011 | Filed by

The News of the World succeeded by using the techniques of the Peeping Tom and blackmailer to present a theatre of cruelty to 7 million readers.… Read the rest



Ani Sharmin on segregated prayers in public schools *

Jul 24th, 2011 | Filed by

If the religion is wrong for having different rules for boys and girls, the remedy is not to bring the religion and its segregation into the school.… Read the rest



Garry Wills on religion and money *

Jul 24th, 2011 | Filed by

He notes the corruption, but calls it a matter of “the sin of taking God’s name in vain.”… Read the rest



Rebecca gives some helpful advice

Jul 23rd, 2011 3:35 pm | By

Seen Rebecca’s dating advice? I think it’s pretty damn funny, and apposite. More apposite than I’d like it to be.

I don’t exactly see myself on either “team,” to the extent that there are two “teams.” I don’t think absolutely every single thing said and done on either side is 100% correct and perfect and right, so I’m not really on either “team” if that’s what it takes. But I don’t suppose anybody on either “team” really thinks either “team” is 100% correct and perfect and right any more than I do, so maybe that’s not what it takes.

At any rate I’m not on any team that calls Rebecca “Twatson” or thinks that her dating advice is a … Read the rest