A BRIEF VISIT TO NEW ORLEANS: …Driving through Lakeview, a suburb which hugs Lake Pontchartrain and borders the University of New Orleans, where I went to school, I was afforded a much closer view of the same conditions. Here the water line is marked by a thick rusty smear sometimes twelve feet off the ground. FEMA trailers are parked out in front of many of the homes, which seemed to me way past salvaging. Spray-painted glyphs on the sides of... Read more

My mistakes are no worse than yoursJust because I’m a blogwatch… Amy Welborn: “My latest cause …to get Scholastic Book Fairs to offer titles specifically chosen for Catholic schools. Correct me if I’m wrong, but in my experience at least–which entails about 20 years of looking over the wares of Scholastic Book Fairs in various Catholic schools–I’ve never seen a “Catholic” book offered–not once. No saints books, etc.” Scalzi: Ten Things Teenage Writers Should Know About Writing. Many continue to... Read more

LES MURRAY WAS WRONG. Things were better when I was young. Why? Because the only Starfleet captain on television was the one, the only James T. Kirk. And nobody would ever think of having Ben Affleck (?!?! interrobang!!!) play him. I mean, really–what?? What??? Kirk was totally my first TV crush (perhaps coincident with a crush on Diana, the rat-eating lizardess from “V”–yeah, tells you something, I know…) and Il Shatner was a huge part of the reason. He’s so... Read more

FAMILY SCHOLARS blog has a lot of links up today on issues surrounding sperm and egg donation–very much worth your time. My piece on “third-party reproduction” is here. Read more

“Amnesty International is considering changing its neutral policy on abortion to one that would declare legal abortion to be an international human right. The organization is currently asking members to submit commentary on proposed changes to their Sexual and Reproductive Rights Policy.” more Read more

GOD IS A THOUGHT THAT MAKES ALL THAT IS STRAIGHT CROOKED: New feature! Because I finally gave in and accepted that I’m probably That Girl, I added a sidebar set of links on God and homosexuality. These are links that do not suck. I will be adding lots more, I hope, in the next few days. Please send me your recommendations. Book recs will take me a while, since I will have to actually read the book, but I do... Read more

I’ve had enough of blogwatch, and messing around with jerks… Hit & Run: Now let me state the present rules,”The lawyer then went on,“These very simple guidelines,You can rely upon:You’re gouging on your prices ifYou charge more than the rest.But it’s unfair competition ifYou think you can charge less!“A second point that we would makeTo help avoid confusion…Don’t try to charge the same amount,That would be Collusion!You must compete. But not too much,For if you do you see,Then the market... Read more

O’zog, kenstu sehn, wen bagin licht dervacht,Vos mir hoben bagrist in farnachtigen glihen?Die shtreifen un shtern, durch shreklicher nacht,Oif festung zich hoiben galant un zich tsein?Yeder blitz fun rocket, yeder knal fun kanon,Hot bawizen durch nacht: az mir halten die Fohn!O, zog, tzi der “Star Spangled Banner” flatert in roim,Ueber land fun die freie, fun brave die heim!–(here) Read more

ALL THE BEES ARE DED and so is my computer. Posting will be very, very limited until next Wednesday. Meanwhile here is a link: From The Agitator: Torture and the Drug War In February of last year, I told you about Lester Eugene Siler, a Tennessee man who was literally tortured by five sheriff’s deputies in Campbell County, Tennessee who suspected him of selling drugs. The only reason we know Siler was tortured is because his wife had the good... Read more

LAST CALL FOR HAPPINESS: Music reviews, in both alphabetical and reverse-preferential order. Cat Power, The Greatest. OK… people are probably getting sick of my saying that Myra Lee and Dear Sir are the best things Cat Power’s ever done, and nothing else holds up. So, given that I am even cooler toward this CD than I was toward its predecessor, what can I say that will catch your interest? There are some things Cat Power does in her awesome high-lonesome... Read more