Squeezing Civil Liberties
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As sophisticated, wise, and worldly as we consider ourselves to be, freedom of speech still tends to elude us and that’s gotten us into a pickle. Continue reading
Category Archives: Rights
Equality! Fraternity! Macaroni!
School lunchtime. Anyone remember that? At a signal, scores of children spill out of classrooms into the hallway to storm the lunchroom. But what’s this? At the cafeteria entrance, one girl is coaxed out of line and told to wait outside. But she’ll miss her lunch, she points out. She’s not to get any, she is informed. Continue reading
God’s Wicked Righteous Women
The most seductive women on Earth are not in Argentina or Sweden or Eden or Hollywood. God put them all in just one country and charged His devoted servants there to guard them well. Continue reading
Get in the Car
The murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, occasioned U.S. leaders to follow the groundswell of outrage and finally embrace the daring resolution required to drive the nation’s white-hot demand for change into legislative chambers. No wonder. Never has the plight of the oppressed been depicted so succinctly. Continue reading
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
Though inalienable, universal, and probably self-evident, U.S. liberties today are based on workarounds that satisfy the power elite. In his speech celebrating the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth, Obama warned of strongman politics that “. . . seek to undermine every institution or norm that gives democracy meaning.” Before getting worked around yourself, perform this quick reality check. Continue reading
Custodians of the Pie
Proud citizens of the most powerful democracy in history, we Americans grew a little smug, then got faked out. They still figure plump and posh in our minds, but our rights got dressed down to grunt status to serve the superrich a while ago. We just don’t seem to know it. Continue reading
Relative Freedoms
Although the truth may be self-evident that people have inalienable rights, the rights themselves are anything but. Take, for example, the right protected by that pesky Second Amendment. Continue reading
Facebook Fails Democracy
The man who wants to connect everyone on the planet, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, recently cut off the man who needs his social media tools most. Why? Because Putin told him to. Continue reading
Ich bin Frau
A man entered a stall in the women’s showers and began to wash prior to his swim. Hastily wrapping a towel about myself, I pointed out his mistake. “No,” he corrected me. “I’m a woman.” I was dumbfounded. How to contradict that? But I couldn’t finish my shower unless I did. Continue reading
How Fundamentalism Titillates
The latest heinous fundamentalist group has pulverized the ancient Arch of Triumph in Palmyra, Syria, and vows to return all such conduits of blasphemy to dust and desert. Too bad the program started so late. There’s an awful lot of crud to remove. But ancient ruins aren’t the only problem. The weaklings who admire them must go, too. Continue reading