Who I am…
I am a lawyer, former mother of teenagers, and a quixotic seeker after and champion of factual truth.
I make the best damn brownies you have ever had that are not regulated by the federal government.
I love movies, Broadway, and intelligent conversation.
I think in song lyrics and movie and television quotes.
I believe in the use of proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar even in text messages. I am willing to debate the use of the Oxford comma, if you know what the Oxford comma is. It also makes me very happy if people use the subjunctive mood when appropriate.
I have been told I intimidate people. I am really just a fluffy-centered teddy bear. Really.
- It's all my fault. No, really. The views expressed in this blog are mine and mine alone and in no way whatsoever represent the views of anyone else, including any past, present, or future employer.
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Words to live by ….
“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8.
“Pray for the dead, fight like hell for the living.” Mary Harris (“Mother Jones”).
“Don’t boo. Vote.” Barack Obama.
“Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” Reinhold Niebuhr.
“No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We’re always one of Us. It’s Them that do the bad things.” Sir Terry Pratchett.
“Damning facts are still facts.” Steven C. Holtzman.
“If you don’t stick to your values when they’re tested, they’re not values — they’re hobbies.” Jon Stewart.
“Darkness never sustains, even though it sometimes seems it will.” Doctor Who.
“Writing is a form of mischief.” Stephen Sondheim.
“An idea is not responsible for the people who believe it.” Don Marquis.
“If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path.” Joseph Campbell.
“Truth is our strongest ally, our biggest weapon, and our best defense.” Me.
“Reality has a well-known liberal bias.” Stephen Colbert.
“The opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creation.” Jonathan Larson.
“We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger.
We rise and fall, and light from dying embers
Remembrances that hope and love last longer.
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love;
Cannot be killed or swept aside.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda.“If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” Emma Goldman.
“No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett.
“I believe that the God who made (among other things) light, and space, and number, and time, and the spiral curve of Fibonacci numbers, must be acknowledged to understand more than I do about why there’s pain in the world.” Teresa Neilsen Hayden.
“No, it’s not fair. You’re in the wrong universe for fair.” John Scalzi.
“Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, ‘Liberal,’ as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won’t work, because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor.” Lawrence O’Donnell
“So keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin’ ass and celebratin’ the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.” Molly Ivins.
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Author Archives: Pat Greene
According to Republicans, the terrorist killing of four American diplomatic and security professionals in an extremely dangerous part of the world is a outrage unparalleled in American history which requires not one, not two, but eight investigations into what happened … Continue reading
Boycott Saturday Night Live.
Donald Trump is scheduled to host Saturday Night Live next month. You shouldn’t watch it. SNL has featured politicians before; just a couple of weeks ago Hillary Clinton had a short bit in which she played a bartender named Val talking … Continue reading
What if?
A discussion has been wafting around my Facebook concerning the “whitewashing” of the character of Mindy Park in the movie of The Martian. I found this a bit confusing, because I had never had a mental image of Mindy as … Continue reading
The Martian: a review.
“The story is such a ripping good ride and so gorgeous to watch that you don’t merely want to suspend your disbelief, you want to tie it to a parking meter outside the theater and order it not to disturb … Continue reading
I’ve just downloaded and installed the latest OS X for my Macbook Pro (vintage 2011). Having exhausted the “Big Cats” naming convention, Apple continued with the “Great Places In California” theme with El Capitan. I was a little dubious: Yosemite … Continue reading
The sword cuts both ways.
Pope John Paul II decried “cafeteria Catholicism,” being in the Church while not accepting some of its decreed tenets. He was right. Even though I was raised Roman Catholic, I am not now and will not be in the Church … Continue reading
Our long national nightmare is over. Judge George H. King, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, ruled this week that the copyrights claimed for the lyrics to “Happy Birthday” were invalid. Hurrah! No … Continue reading
Breathtaking (literally) corporate malfeasance.
Lately, the only things I find unspeakably awful are the Republican presidential candidates. I know other awful monsters are out there, but my outrage meter has been pegged pretty high. This, though, exceeds it by a mile. Volkswagen modified the … Continue reading
Dear Ben Carson: I know people who support you. People I love. People I care about. I don’t understand it, but then they can’t figure out why I like Bernie Sanders, either. I saw where you stated that a Muslim … Continue reading
This has gotten old.
I watched ten minutes of the Republican debates last week. That’s up from two minutes for the first one. I have heard other bits and pieces through the week. If I think about them too long, I start to feel … Continue reading
Which of these things is not like the others?
I have been intellectually lazy. Not the first time, nor I suspect, the last. Like quite a number of people — professional pundits and Facebook philosophers alike — I have equated the candidacies of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. Outsiders rule … Continue reading
Government surveillance for good.
Remember my tree? I had to have a talk with the city department of Forestry today. We had received a letter lecturing us about the heritage tree ordinance, and stating that several neighbors had complained about our removing the tree. … Continue reading
This Labor Day…
If you have paid sick or vacation leave, thank unions. If you get overtime at your job if you work more than forty hours a week, thank unions. If your kid isn’t working in a sweatshop, thank unions. If you … Continue reading
I read through my last post about Mike and Ikes, and realized that my protestations to the contrary I do eat Hershey’s Chocolate on a regular basis. I eat miniature Hershey’s Bars when I am at work. Campaigns run on … Continue reading
Cleaning up.
I adore high-end (preferably custom-made) chocolates. My current faves are from Alexander’s Patisserie in Mountain View, CA. (The site does not seem to have pictures of the chocolates, which is a shame: they are encased in a very thin shell … Continue reading
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