Lately, I've been stopping about once a week in on a local dry-goods store called the Head Nut, a neat cramped bottom of a converted house with shelves full of big glass jars that hold coffee, spices, dried fruits, nuts, candy, and all sorts of things. Most of the clerks behind the counter are ladies, but one of them is a guy who's got a bit of a ( Read more... )

When I was growing up, one of my best friends was a Republican -- or, rather, she was as much of a Republican as I was a Democrat, which, when you're ten, isn't really very much. But she came from the kind of very Republican family you get when a Mexican Catholic woman marries a white southern Catholic man, which is to say, a somewhat peculiar one ( Read more... )

Jesus at Occupy Wall Street: ‘I feel like I’ve been here before’On a very related note, Tuesday's lecture in my Hebrew Bible class was on the eighth-century prophets: Amos, Hosea, (first) Isaiah, and Micah. For a little background: we're talking the 8th century BCE here, during which time the Assyrians conquered the very wealthy and well-off ( Read more... )

I'm not technically in the Jewish Studies department, nor is my dissertation going to be much (if at all) about Judaism. However, my advisor was the head of Jewish Studies, the first professor I ever TA'd for was the next head of Jewish Studies, I teach classes that are cross-listed with Jewish Studies, and I have spent a lot of my academic time ( Read more... )

The grand news of Prop 8's having been declared unconstitutional (though arguments Friday will determine whether or not genderblind marriage should resume in California) has been covered in great detail elsewhere, and often with charming .gifs, which I always enjoy; thus, I don't really have more to add to the discussion than a couple comments ( Read more... )

You may not have noticed, owing to the shameful lack of media coverage on the subject, but beeblebabe's beloved hometown of Nashville has gotten itself rained on and flooded pretty good. Like, once-in-a-thousand-years levels of flooded pretty good. At least the rain's let up and the water's receding now, but the place is hardly dry again and the cleanup's ( Read more... )

From Joe. My. God., via Michelangelo Signorile:[T]oday SiriusXM radio host Michelangelo Signorile and DC-based LGBT activist Mike Rogers jointly revealed that Mark Buse, John McCain's chief of staff, is a gay man.
What to do with this? Now, I know that I, having a compassionate heart and a respect for the privacy of individuals, should frown upon ( Read more... )

I have wanted to see a woman in the Oval Office since I was but a wee thing, and not only because I spent a rather small portion of my high school career wanting to be that woman. At the same time, however, I have always known that said woman would have to be tough as nails, because while every success will be interpreted as her own, every failure ( Read more... )

As of 5:00 PM Pacific time yesterday, same-sex couples in California are legally able to be wed ( Read more... )

God bless California!

From the decision:In light of the fundamental nature of the substantive rights embodied in the right to marry - and their central importance to an individual’s opportunity to live a happy, meaningful, and satisfying life as a full member of society - the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this ( Read more... )