"Beware. Ignorance protects itself. Ignorance promotes suspicion. Suspicion engenders fear. Fear quails, irrational and blind. Or fear looms, defiant and closed. Blind, closed, suspicious, afraid. Ignorance protects itself. And protected, ignorance grows." -Octavia E. Butler, from Parable of Talents There is an unwillingness to recognize ignorance. An unwillingness to admit it. To accept it. It…
Tag: opinion
Dehumanize
I spent a lot of mental energy yesterday thinking about what is happening right now on our Mexican border. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. I couldn't figure out how to process it or articulate my feelings about it. Anxiety, helplessness, outrage, sadness all culminating in a paltry donation to an immigrant rights organization…
Why I don’t want Bernie Sanders to run for President
Bernie Sanders was on Bill Maher recently. While I agree with most every issue for which Bernie fights; the need for universal healthcare, a way to bring more jobs/income to the working class-- I suppose I agree with free tuition for higher education, although I'd rather address primary school education first. All that said, I…
Continue reading ➞ Why I don’t want Bernie Sanders to run for President
About that sex talk…
My husband and I watched the Oscars together a few weeks ago. I lounged on the couch and he thumbed through his FB feed. The award show was more background noise than anything. Then I heard the name Kobe Bryant. My husband looked up from his phone, confused. I sat up and turned to the…
The clichés of a**holes
Note: I began writing this shortly after the Parkland shooting. I've read through it many times now and I know there is so much more I could say. For the sake of brevity, though, I will not go further than I have here. Also, full disclosure, my initial draft was pretty snarky. I've done my…
Why I listen to podcasts and why you should too
"Do you listen to podcasts?" someone might ask. With a laugh and roll of my eyes, "NO!" I'd respond mockingly. That conversation happened many times before I did finally give in and listen. I went into that first podcast with such skepticism. Four years later, I listen to at least one podcast almost every day. …
Continue reading ➞ Why I listen to podcasts and why you should too
Bad Behavior
A fundamental of dog training is to reward good behavior and ignore bad behavior. This, I have decided, is a piece of wisdom that we would do well to remember in almost every situation. In particular the "ignore bad behavior" part. That part is crucial. In fact, you could leave off the reward part and…
The Power – a book review
"Absolute power corrupts absolutely." - John Dalberg-Acton This, among others, is a theme of the book The Power by Naomi Aldrich. But there is so much more to it than that. What begins as a story about gender inequality, really becomes a complicated thought experiment on power, gender, politics, religion and war. The concept is…
Charly Slipp 