You can’t directly compare conditions a hundred or two hundred years ago to today. At first glance, this seems obvious, and yet I consistently see people doing this. The comparisons are made when we talk about vaccination, obesity, infant mortality, childbirth methods, autism, child labor, and probably half a dozen other topics that I can’t […]
Category Archives: Politics
An Abundance of Love
My facebook feed has been full of posts about Leelah Alcorn, a teenage transgirl who committed suicide by stepping out in front of a semi on the highway. I have a friend with a trans child who felt this story hit her like a physical blow in the chest. It shows that the alternative of a […]
How Can I Fight?
I’ve posted an article or a link here and there, where some other author has responded to recent events in Police State America. I haven’t said much myself, partly because I don’t feel like my white-assed, privileged words could possibly be worthwhile in a conversation about racism, partly because I really don’t have anything to […]
Links and Things
I don’t have a loud voice shouting to get out today, so instead here are some little voices. My middle child loves to go out in the rain. As soon as a downpour starts, he’s at the front door asking to go out in it. I love being able to say yes. Yes! Go dance […]
Fake a Disability
“Hey, did you know that [insert disability here] people get to [insert special access here]? We could do that, too, because the government says that businesses aren’t allowed to ask questions. Here, you pretend to have [insert disability here] and I’ll [get fake certification/baldly lie/pretend nothing’s wrong], and then we’ll get [insert special access here], […]
Municipal Water
Once upon a time, there was no municipal water system. People collected water in barrels, dug wells, or gathered from streams and lakes. City folks had city wells and cisterns. Everybody had to lug the water around, from the source to the house. Because it took so much effort to acquire the water, it was […]
Literature Outside Its Time
One of my favorite authors of all time is Robert Heinlein. I discovered his books the year after he died, and I read them voraciously throughout my teenage years. Through his books, I learned about things as varied as being resourceful and self-reliant, the value of honor and integrity, libertarianism and voluntaryism (though I didn’t […]
Not Just Birth
An article recently on what choice in childbirth really looks like for individual women caught my attention. The most vocal folks who debate birth options seem to believe that whatever position is right for them should be the position everybody takes. Hospital birthers decry homebirthers as borderline child abuser, likening the home birth to squatting […]
Is Rape Insurance Worth It?
(or, what I do when I’m bored on a Saturday morning) Insurance, n.: coverage by contract whereby one party undertakes to indemnify or guarantee another against loss by a specified contingency or peril. There has been a lot of talk lately about what has been dubbed the Rape Insurance law in Michigan, which recently went […]
A Lone Libertarian Walks Into a Bar
There’s a social event going on, and she’s excited to be there. All the people she knows have filled their tables, though, leaving her to find a chair at a table full of strangers. With strangers, you never know how the conversation will go. She knows she shares religious and most likely sexual mores with […]