One of our students turned 18 today, and I dutifully took him and two other seniors to the polls.  Two are from New Jersey, one from California, so their voting here will make more of a difference than if their ballots had been cast at home ( Read more... )

Sometimes it's best just to link.

I just watched CBS News' side-by-side pairing of Katie Couric's discussions of Roe v. Wade with Joe Biden and Sarah Palin.

The former's comfort discussing the legalities of the decision is unsurprising; the guy's a lawyer and a thirty-year veteran of the Senate. The latter's touching on only the most general aspects of the case is not surprising in ( Read more... )

 I was a stone fan of Orson Scott Card's work in the 80s and 90s.  Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead were two of the best science fiction books I ever encountered: deep, thoughtful, gripping, shocking. They showed insights into human behavior and morality that I hadn't come across before, and I appreciated Card's craft so much that I bought ( Read more... )

Here's a photo of Barack Obama getting sworn into office

a) on a Bible

b) by Dick Cheney


( Read more... )

 "Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen: Wrong for Pennsylvania..."

A little treat for 
( Read more... )

We're watching our Netflix of Battlestar Galactica Season 3, and tonight we got to watch

(SPOILER ALERTS!):

*Tigh and Roslyn arguing over the morality of suicide bombing
*Jammer and Tyrol discussing the morality of humans replacing the occupiers as a colonial police force
*Baltar forced to choose between his own death and signing a presidential order ( Read more... )