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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Contact info:
Email me at wwf@lithic.net
Category Archives: Justice
Movies: facing the past.
On Tuesday, I saw Hidden Figures, about three African-American women who fought bigotry and misogyny to become important figures at NASA. It’s a great movie, and a story that needs to be told. And, like Selma, I found it difficult … Continue reading
The sound of breaking glass.
Perhaps I am naive, but I don’t worry too much about our country indulging in mass killings of Muslims by the the government. We are not Nazi Germany. I could be wrong, of course: if you had told me fifteen … Continue reading
F*** you, too, Brownie.
[Warning: as can be guessed by the title, this post contains strong language.] Ten years ago, I was telling my friends that people in the Gulf Coast were using “the C-word”: Camille. Growing up in Florida, the refrain you always … Continue reading
To my foremothers
The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, adopted August … Continue reading
Over fifty years after the fact, Pinellas County rejects Brown v. Board of Education.
Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments….it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his … Continue reading
A probably underappreciated act of courage.
James Holmes, who shot up an Aurora, Colorado movie theater a couple of years ago, escaped the death penalty this week. The jury could not unanimously agree that he should be executed. The jury hung because of one juror. One … Continue reading
We failed him.
The first execution of 2015 happened on January 12. Georgia put to death a Vietnam veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder. He had no prior criminal record, and danced around the street yelling “Shoot me!” before pulling out a rifle and killing a … Continue reading
A white woman looks at Selma. For what it’s worth.
[Yes, there are one or two spoilers for Selma in this post. Also, before you comment, please read the entire post.] Last week a friend and I went to see Selma. She grew up in the South, as I did, … Continue reading
Social justice music.
I am listening to The Voice. This week I have purchased two singles, “Redemption Songs,” sung by Anita Antoinette (my favorite performer still on the show) and “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” performed by Damien. I chose hymns. How … Continue reading
” It is almost as if Plaintiff ’s counsel chose the opinion by throwing long range darts at the Federal Reporter…”
Bradshaw v. Unity Marine Corp. (147F Supp. 2d 668 (S.D. Tex. 2001)) just may be the most entertaining court ruling I have ever read. I am making a spectacle of myself in Starbucks as I giggle, snort, and laugh outright at … Continue reading
Intersectionality.
In a post following the protests in Ferguson, I talked about my friend’s rules for shopping as an African-American male. I finally began to emotionally (rather than intellectually) relate to his experience when I began mapping them onto the “rules” … Continue reading
Owning my privilege.
C., a friend whom I knew from church, is someone I would want my kids to be like. He attended an Ivy League school, dresses conservatively, and holds down a very nice job at a tech company. He is also … Continue reading
Religious tolerance for me but not for thee.
Support for religion only exists for fundamentalist Conservative Christian believers, it seems. Last month, Operation Save America terrorists activists surrounded and invaded a Unitarian Universalist Church in Louisiana. They screamed at the congregants that they were hell-bound baby killers. It’s … Continue reading
I have been worried about the increasing influence of churches in America in the past few years. This may seem odd, since religion — particularly Christianity, particularly Protestantism — has always had some level of influence in America. I find … Continue reading
Criminally Minded.
I’m watching 48 Hours, a show I almost never watch. I am usually quite skeptical of shows dissecting unpopular acquittals in criminal cases. Often such shows are simplistic and sensationalistic. The television producers take a single case, present as much … Continue reading
A few thoughts on the death penalty.
I have written before about my opinions about capital punishment, namely that it is morally indefensible. It turns out that more and more people are agreeing with me, such as the state legislature of Maryland. Earlier this year, in a … Continue reading
I was wrong.
I have written about Aaron Schwarz before, both his original arrest and his suicide. I should have just talked to the Red-Headed Menace. He had not been paying attention to the case, and when I talked to him on Tuesday, … Continue reading
Loving my neighbor.
I have been thinking the past few days about the Bible. In particular, about the phrase “love your neighbor as yourself.” I have heard far too many people say this who clearly have no idea of what it means. For … Continue reading
The Trayvon Martin George Zimmerman verdict is in. It should not have surprised anyone, really: whatever issues Florida has in the legal treatment of whites and minorities aside, the prosecution did not do a particularly good job at disproving Zimmerman’s … Continue reading
Sad. So sad.
In July, 2011, I wrote about the Aaron Swartz case. It was with sadness that I read that Aaron Swartz had committed suicide. From all I have read, Swartz was a sweet guy. He was only twenty-six, having done more … Continue reading
