This whole nanny blog thing just creeps me out. (The nanny in question's actual blog is here.) Possibly because I had a dodgy babysitter experience; possibly because another potential babysitter happened to include her blog link in e-mail correspondence, and I had to fight not to be unnerved by what I read; or possibly because I myself am a regular blogger (and I've posted about the vomitous feeling the dodgy babysitter inspired), I've been thinking a lot about the...
June 27, 2005
I had the opportunity last week to join a conference call between the Live 8 organizers and Philadelphia bloggers (of which, apparently, I am one), but I chose not to dial in. My main reason for not participating was that, as someone whose second thought (after "why?"), upon hearing that Live 8 would be taking place in my neighborhood, was "oh my god, we've got to get out of town", I'd feel like a fraud. The other big reason...
June 22, 2005
Dear Congressman Fattah, Senator Santorum, and Senator Specter: Oh, my god. Are you seriously considering eliminating funding for Sesame Street just when my 7 month-old has discovered the delights of Elmo and Grover? Please don't let the only alternative be commercial television with its endless pitches for sugary sweets, needless toys, and fattening fast food. I happily support public television (and public radio) with individual contributions, and I want to support it with my tax dollars, too. Save PBS...
January 20, 2005
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/01/19/brazil.big.baby.ap/...
January 14, 2005
I mentioned in a post a couple weeks ago that the weather in Philadelphia had been quite balmy lately, but in the past few days, it's been positively screwy. On Wednesday Austen and I left the house at 10:24am (I was timing us) en route to my six-week post-partum checkup (I'm fine, all systems are go). I was wearing my fuzzy-collared winter coat, but I didn't bother donning my hat and gloves. Soon I even had to unbutton the...
October 29, 2004
I love that Wolf Blitzer just said [paraphrasing here], "this isn't the October Suprise everyone was expecting."...
There's an article in the New York Times today (Video Shows G.I.'s at Weapon Cache, free subscription required to view) describing a video shot by a Minneapolis-based TV news crew that purports to show intact IAEA seals at the Al Qaqaa munitions complex, as well as the now-missing crates of HMX explosives. When was the video shot? Nine days after the fall of Baghdad. I was a bit frustrated by the article; in an apparent attempt to be balanced,...
October 17, 2004
I saw this interesting item on Suburban Guerrilla about the difference in the British and American responses to the Chiron debacle, but I wasn't sure how reliable the source was (especially given the dodgy editing, the lack of attribution, and the numerous server errors I got on my first visit to the site). It seems the story's accurate, if the Washington Post is to be believed. What's interesting to me is that this could be yet another example of...
October 12, 2004
Slate magazine has an interesting analysis of how Kerry blew the second presidential debate by William Saletan (link via nj). As much as I think Bush is an idiot as a debator, I have to say I agree that Kerry is even worse at taking advantage of what Saletan calls hanging sliders (and what I called pucks flying through the slot after the first debate). Kerry gave interesting responses, but they often weren't the ones I expected. WHY, oh...
June 20, 2003
Ooooh, this makes me so MAD!! Everyone keeps talking about the lack of adverse health effects of genetically-modified foods, when they should be talking about their impact on the diversity of ecosystems. GMOs are a global environmental issue, not an immediate-term health issue. I also find the idea that Europe is boycotting American biotech foods because they disagree with the Bush administration's policies in Iraq ridiculous. Europe is rightly suspicious of American companies' efforts to control the world's food...
June 19, 2003
From the New York Times (free registration required to read article): Report by the E.P.A. Leaves Out Data on Climate Change More information on climate change from the World Wildlife Fund (aka "The All-Too-Real WWF"). And in other news... ---------------------- "The difference between being black and being gay," said one gay activist, "is that you don't have to come down at breakfast one morning and break it to your parents: 'Mum, Dad, I'm black.'" from Gay is the New...
May 27, 2003
There was an article in Sunday's New York Times called Prospecting for Gold Among the Photoblogs; I read it with interest, hoping to see some of my favorite sites mentioned and to learn about a few new ones. Unfortunately, the article focused mostly on the photos that the author didn't like rather than the ones she did. Am I wrong in thinking that the NYT takes more pleasure in pointing out the dangers/idiocy/banality of blogging than blogging's pearls of...
March 21, 2003
Got up extra early this morning so I could do my step workout and then catch the train to work. I worked out longer than usual, but I still had time to lollygag around the house for a bit. I like doing that in the mornings. I had the car yesterday, so I listened to NPR's war coverage on the drive home. I'd like to revise my earlier statement that NPR was no better than the television news stations;...
March 20, 2003
What he said. Al and I have been talking about this since I switched from the Weather Channel to MSNBC yesterday morning and heard Brian Williams say, "now we have two things we want to show you: first, a live shot of downtown Baghdad. And as you can see, nothing's happening there. Second, the podium in the White House press room, where we're waiting for Ari Fleischer to make an appearance. And of course, as soon as he does,...